diff --git a/OpenRa.Game/Actor.cs b/OpenRa.Game/Actor.cs
index 42c22fdafc..7c34977179 100755
--- a/OpenRa.Game/Actor.cs
+++ b/OpenRa.Game/Actor.cs
@@ -20,16 +20,21 @@ namespace OpenRa.Game
 		public readonly uint ActorID;
 		public int2 Location;
 		public Player Owner;
-		public int Health;
-
-		public Actor( string name, int2 location, Player owner )
+		public int Health;
+		public readonly bool IsMapActor;
+
+		public Actor(string name, int2 location, Player owner)
+			: this( name, location, owner, false ) {}
+
+		public Actor( string name, int2 location, Player owner, bool isMapActor )
 		{
 			ActorID = Game.world.NextAID();
 			unitInfo = Rules.UnitInfo[ name ];
 			Location = location;
 			CenterLocation = new float2( 12, 12 ) + Game.CellSize * (float2)Location;
 			Owner = owner;
-			Health = unitInfo.Strength;	/* todo: handle cases where this is not true! */
+			Health = unitInfo.Strength;	/* todo: handle cases where this is not true! */
+			IsMapActor = isMapActor;
 
 			if( unitInfo.Traits != null )
 			{
diff --git a/OpenRa.Game/Game.cs b/OpenRa.Game/Game.cs
index f8e262107e..d368b16407 100644
--- a/OpenRa.Game/Game.cs
+++ b/OpenRa.Game/Game.cs
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ namespace OpenRa.Game
 				//num=owner,type,health,location,facing,trigger,unknown,shouldRepair
 				var parts = s.Value.ToLowerInvariant().Split( ',' );
 				var loc = int.Parse( parts[ 3 ] );
-				world.Add( new Actor( parts[ 1 ], new int2( loc % 128, loc / 128 ), players[ 0 ] ) );
+				world.Add( new Actor( parts[ 1 ], new int2( loc % 128, loc / 128 ), players[ 0 ], true ) );
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ namespace OpenRa.Game
 				//num=owner,type,health,location,facing,action,trigger
 				var parts = s.Value.ToLowerInvariant().Split( ',' );
 				var loc = int.Parse( parts[ 3 ] );
-				world.Add( new Actor( parts[ 1 ], new int2( loc % 128, loc / 128 ), players[ 0 ] ) );
+				world.Add( new Actor( parts[ 1 ], new int2( loc % 128, loc / 128 ), players[ 0 ], true ) );
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/OpenRa.Game/Traits/RenderBuilding.cs b/OpenRa.Game/Traits/RenderBuilding.cs
index 7b981103c2..fb3f581aa3 100644
--- a/OpenRa.Game/Traits/RenderBuilding.cs
+++ b/OpenRa.Game/Traits/RenderBuilding.cs
@@ -18,13 +18,16 @@ namespace OpenRa.Game.Traits
 		public RenderBuilding(Actor self)
 			: base(self)
 		{
-			anim.PlayThen("make", () => anim.PlayRepeating("idle"));
+			if (self.IsMapActor)
+				anim.PlayRepeating("idle");
+			else
+				anim.PlayThen("make", () => anim.PlayRepeating("idle"));
+
 			DoBib(self, false);
 		}
 
 		void DoBib(Actor self, bool isRemove)
 		{
-			// at this point, we already know where we are, so we can safely place the bib in the smudge
 			var buildingInfo = (UnitInfo.BuildingInfo)self.unitInfo;
 			if (buildingInfo.Bib)
 			{