diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Format/WMSCapabilities/v1.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Format/WMSCapabilities/v1.js
index dd3c498b6c9..52d4ebbb610 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Format/WMSCapabilities/v1.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Format/WMSCapabilities/v1.js
@@ -71,117 +71,10 @@ OpenLayers.Format.WMSCapabilities.v1 = OpenLayers.Class(
             // an exception must have occurred, so parse it
             var parser = new OpenLayers.Format.OGCExceptionReport();
             capabilities.error = parser.read(raw);
-        } else {
-            // postprocess the layer list
-            this.postProcessLayers(capabilities);
         }
         return capabilities;
     },
 
-    /**
-     * Method: postProcessLayers
-     * Post process the layers, so that the nested layer structure is converted
-     * to a flat layer list with only named layers.
-     *
-     * Parameters:
-     * capabilities - {Object} The object (structure) returned by the parser with
-     *     all the info from the GetCapabilities response.
-     */
-    postProcessLayers: function(capabilities) {
-        if (capabilities.capability) {
-            capabilities.capability.layers = [];
-            var layers = capabilities.capability.nestedLayers;
-            for (var i=0, len = layers.length; i<len; ++i) {
-                var layer = layers[i];
-                this.processLayer(capabilities.capability, layer);
-            }
-        }
-    },
-
-    /**
-     * Method: processLayer
-     * Recursive submethod of postProcessLayers. This function will among
-     * others deal with property inheritance.
-     *
-     * Parameters:
-     * capability - {Object} The capability part of the capabilities object
-     * layer - {Object} The layer that needs processing
-     * parentLayer - {Object} The parent layer of the respective layer
-    */
-    processLayer: function(capability, layer, parentLayer) {
-        if (layer.formats === undefined) {
-            layer.formats = capability.request.getmap.formats;
-        }
-        if (layer.infoFormats === undefined && capability.request.getfeatureinfo) {
-            layer.infoFormats = capability.request.getfeatureinfo.formats;
-        }
-
-        var i, len;
-
-        // deal with property inheritance
-        if(parentLayer) {
-            // add style
-            layer.styles = layer.styles.concat(parentLayer.styles);
-            var attributes = ["queryable",
-                              "cascaded",
-                              "fixedWidth",
-                              "fixedHeight",
-                              "opaque",
-                              "noSubsets",
-                              "llbbox",
-                              "minScale",
-                              "maxScale",
-                              "attribution"];
-
-            var complexAttr = ["srs",
-                               "bbox",
-                               "dimensions",
-                               "authorityURLs"];
-            
-            var key;
-
-            for (i=0, len=attributes.length; i<len; i++) {
-                key = attributes[i];
-                if (key in parentLayer) {
-                    // only take parent value if not present (null or undefined)
-                    if (layer[key] == null) {
-                        layer[key] = parentLayer[key];
-                    }
-                    // if attribute isn't present, and we haven't
-                    // inherited anything from a parent layer
-                    // set to default value
-                    if (layer[key] == null) {
-                        var intAttr = ["cascaded", "fixedWidth", "fixedHeight"];
-                        var boolAttr = ["queryable", "opaque", "noSubsets"];
-                        if (OpenLayers.Util.indexOf(intAttr, key) != -1) {
-                            layer[key] = 0;
-                        }
-                        if (OpenLayers.Util.indexOf(boolAttr, key) != -1) {
-                            layer[key] = false;
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-
-            for (i=0, len=complexAttr.length; i<len; i++) {
-                key = complexAttr[i];
-                layer[key] = OpenLayers.Util.applyDefaults(
-                    layer[key], parentLayer[key]);
-            }
-        }
-
-        // process sublayers
-        for (i=0, len=layer.nestedLayers.length; i<len; i++) {
-            var childLayer = layer.nestedLayers[i];
-            this.processLayer(capability, childLayer, layer);
-        }
-        
-        if (layer.name) {
-            capability.layers.push(layer);
-        }
-    
-    },
-    
     /**
      * Property: readers
      * Contains public functions, grouped by namespace prefix, that will
@@ -290,7 +183,10 @@ OpenLayers.Format.WMSCapabilities.v1 = OpenLayers.Class(
                 }
             },
             "Capability": function(node, obj) {
-                obj.capability = {nestedLayers: []};
+                obj.capability = {
+                    nestedLayers: [],
+                    layers: []
+                };
                 this.readChildNodes(node, obj.capability);
             },
             "Request": function(node, obj) {
@@ -343,6 +239,13 @@ OpenLayers.Format.WMSCapabilities.v1 = OpenLayers.Class(
                 this.readChildNodes(node, obj.exception);
             },
             "Layer": function(node, obj) {
+                var parentLayer, capability;
+                if (obj.capability) {
+                    capability = obj.capability;
+                    parentLayer = obj;
+                } else {
+                    capability = obj;
+                }
                 var attrNode = node.getAttributeNode("queryable");
                 var queryable = (attrNode && attrNode.specified) ? 
                     node.getAttribute("queryable") : null;
@@ -355,28 +258,56 @@ OpenLayers.Format.WMSCapabilities.v1 = OpenLayers.Class(
                 var noSubsets = node.getAttribute('noSubsets');
                 var fixedWidth = node.getAttribute('fixedWidth');
                 var fixedHeight = node.getAttribute('fixedHeight');
-                var layer = {nestedLayers: [], styles: [], srs: {}, 
-                    metadataURLs: [], bbox: {}, dimensions: {},
-                    authorityURLs: {}, identifiers: {}, keywords: [],
+                var parent = parentLayer || {},
+                    extend = OpenLayers.Util.extend;
+                var layer = {
+                    nestedLayers: [],
+                    styles: parentLayer ? [].concat(parentLayer.styles) : [],
+                    srs: parentLayer ? extend({}, parent.srs) : {}, 
+                    metadataURLs: [],
+                    bbox: parentLayer ? extend({}, parent.bbox) : {},
+                    llbbox: parent.llbbox,
+                    dimensions: parentLayer ? extend({}, parent.dimensions) : {},
+                    authorityURLs: parentLayer ? extend({}, parent.authorityURLs) : {},
+                    identifiers: {},
+                    keywords: [],
                     queryable: (queryable && queryable !== "") ? 
-                        ( queryable === "1" || queryable === "true" ) : null,
-                    cascaded: (cascaded !== null) ? parseInt(cascaded) : null,
+                        (queryable === "1" || queryable === "true" ) :
+                        (parent.queryable || false),
+                    cascaded: (cascaded !== null) ? parseInt(cascaded) :
+                        (parent.cascaded || 0),
                     opaque: opaque ? 
-                        (opaque === "1" || opaque === "true" ) : null,
+                        (opaque === "1" || opaque === "true" ) :
+                        (parent.opaque || false),
                     noSubsets: (noSubsets !== null) ? 
-                        ( noSubsets === "1" || noSubsets === "true" ) : null,
+                        (noSubsets === "1" || noSubsets === "true" ) :
+                        (parent.noSubsets || false),
                     fixedWidth: (fixedWidth != null) ? 
-                        parseInt(fixedWidth) : null,
+                        parseInt(fixedWidth) : (parent.fixedWidth || 0),
                     fixedHeight: (fixedHeight != null) ? 
-                        parseInt(fixedHeight) : null
+                        parseInt(fixedHeight) : (parent.fixedHeight || 0),
+                    minScale: parent.minScale,
+                    maxScale: parent.maxScale,
+                    attribution: parent.attribution,
                 };
                 obj.nestedLayers.push(layer);
+                layer.capability = capability;
                 this.readChildNodes(node, layer);
+                delete layer.capability;
                 if(layer.name) {
-                    var parts = layer.name.split(":");
+                    var parts = layer.name.split(":"),
+                        request = capability.request,
+                        gfi = request.getfeatureinfo;
                     if(parts.length > 0) {
                         layer.prefix = parts[0];
                     }
+                    capability.layers.push(layer);
+                    if (layer.formats === undefined) {
+                        layer.formats = request.getmap.formats;
+                    }
+                    if (layer.infoFormats === undefined && gfi) {
+                        layer.infoFormats = gfi.formats;
+                    }
                 }
             },
             "Attribution": function(node, obj) {