diff --git a/apps/filetypes.c b/apps/filetypes.c
index 25dc0fe7da..832d67799b 100644
--- a/apps/filetypes.c
+++ b/apps/filetypes.c
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ struct file_type {
     char* extension; /* NULL for none */
 };
 static struct file_type filetypes[MAX_FILETYPES];
+static int custom_filetype_icons[MAX_FILETYPES];
+static bool custom_icons_loaded = false;
 static int filetype_count = 0;
 static unsigned char heighest_attr = 0;
 
@@ -81,6 +83,10 @@ void read_viewer_theme_file(void)
     int fd;
     char *ext, *icon;
     int i;
+    custom_icons_loaded = false;
+    for (i=0; i<filetype_count; i++)
+        custom_filetype_icons[i] = Icon_Questionmark;
+    
     snprintf(buffer, MAX_PATH, "%s/%s.icons", ICON_DIR, 
              global_settings.viewers_icon_file);
     fd = open(buffer, O_RDONLY);
@@ -95,16 +101,17 @@ void read_viewer_theme_file(void)
             if (filetypes[i].extension && !strcasecmp(ext, filetypes[i].extension))
             {
                 if (*icon == '*')
-                    filetypes[i].icon = atoi(icon+1);
+                    custom_filetype_icons[i] = atoi(icon+1);
                 else if (*icon == '-')
-                    filetypes[i].icon = Icon_NOICON;
+                    custom_filetype_icons[i] = Icon_NOICON;
                 else if (*icon >= '0' && *icon <= '9')
-                    filetypes[i].icon = Icon_Last_Themeable + atoi(icon);
+                    custom_filetype_icons[i] = Icon_Last_Themeable + atoi(icon);
                 break;
             }
         }
     }
     close(fd);
+    custom_icons_loaded = true;
 }
 #endif
 
@@ -258,6 +265,8 @@ int filetype_get_icon(int attr)
     int index = find_attr(attr);
     if (index < 0)
         return Icon_NOICON;
+    if (custom_icons_loaded)
+        return custom_filetype_icons[index];
     return filetypes[index].icon;
 }
 
diff --git a/apps/gui/icon.c b/apps/gui/icon.c
index b844b4bb5b..6e4cd59059 100644
--- a/apps/gui/icon.c
+++ b/apps/gui/icon.c
@@ -74,11 +74,11 @@ static const int default_height[NB_SCREENS] = {
 
 #define IMG_BUFSIZE (MAX_ICON_HEIGHT * MAX_ICON_WIDTH * \
                      Icon_Last_Themeable *LCD_DEPTH/8)
-static unsigned char icon_buffer[IMG_BUFSIZE][NB_SCREENS];
+static unsigned char icon_buffer[NB_SCREENS][IMG_BUFSIZE];
 static bool custom_icons_loaded[NB_SCREENS] = {false};
 static struct bitmap user_iconset[NB_SCREENS];
 
-static unsigned char viewer_icon_buffer[IMG_BUFSIZE][NB_SCREENS];
+static unsigned char viewer_icon_buffer[NB_SCREENS][IMG_BUFSIZE];
 static bool viewer_icons_loaded[NB_SCREENS] = {false};
 static struct bitmap viewer_iconset[NB_SCREENS];
 
@@ -252,13 +252,15 @@ void icons_init(void)
     {
         snprintf(path, MAX_PATH, "%s/%s.bmp",
                  ICON_DIR, global_settings.icon_file);
-        load_icons(path, Iconset_Mainscreen);
+        load_icons((global_settings.icon_file[0] == '-')?NULL:path,
+                    Iconset_Mainscreen);
     }
     if (global_settings.viewers_icon_file[0])
     {
         snprintf(path, MAX_PATH, "%s/%s.bmp",
                  ICON_DIR, global_settings.viewers_icon_file);
-        load_icons(path, Iconset_Mainscreen_viewers);
+        load_icons((global_settings.viewers_icon_file[0] == '-')?NULL:path,
+                    Iconset_Mainscreen_viewers);
         read_viewer_theme_file();
     }
     else
@@ -268,13 +270,15 @@ void icons_init(void)
     {
         snprintf(path, MAX_PATH, "%s/%s.bmp",
                  ICON_DIR, global_settings.remote_icon_file);
-        load_icons(path, Iconset_Remotescreen);
+        load_icons((global_settings.remote_icon_file[0] == '-')?NULL:path,
+                    Iconset_Remotescreen);
     }
     if (global_settings.remote_viewers_icon_file[0])
     {
         snprintf(path, MAX_PATH, "%s/%s.bmp",
                  ICON_DIR, global_settings.remote_viewers_icon_file);
-        load_icons(path, Iconset_Remotescreen_viewers);
+        load_icons((global_settings.remote_viewers_icon_file[0] == '-')?NULL:path,
+                    Iconset_Remotescreen_viewers);
     }
     else
         load_icons(DEFAULT_REMOTE_VIEWER_BMP, Iconset_Remotescreen_viewers);
diff --git a/apps/gui/icon.h b/apps/gui/icon.h
index fa6919030f..8408ed46b0 100644
--- a/apps/gui/icon.h
+++ b/apps/gui/icon.h
@@ -24,15 +24,14 @@
  * char-based displays and bitmap displays */
 #ifdef HAVE_LCD_BITMAP
 typedef const unsigned char * ICON;
-#define NOICON Icon_NOICON
 #else
 typedef long ICON;
-#define NOICON Icon_NOICON
 #endif
 
+#define NOICON Icon_NOICON
 #define FORCE_INBUILT_ICON 0x80000000
 /* Don't #ifdef icon values, or we wont be able to use the same 
-   cmp for every target. */
+   bmp for every target. */
 enum themable_icons {
     Icon_NOICON = -1, /* Dont put this in a .bmp */
     Icon_Audio,
diff --git a/apps/settings.h b/apps/settings.h
index c27b6e602b..1fee6b4838 100644
--- a/apps/settings.h
+++ b/apps/settings.h
@@ -708,8 +708,10 @@ struct user_settings
     int alarm_wake_up_screen;
 #endif
     /* customizable icons */
+#ifdef HAVE_LCD_BITMAP
     unsigned char icon_file[MAX_FILENAME+1];
     unsigned char viewers_icon_file[MAX_FILENAME+1];
+#endif
 #ifdef HAVE_REMOTE_LCD
     unsigned char remote_icon_file[MAX_FILENAME+1];
     unsigned char remote_viewers_icon_file[MAX_FILENAME+1];
diff --git a/apps/settings_list.c b/apps/settings_list.c
index 2ebce0ea77..ce45074f36 100644
--- a/apps/settings_list.c
+++ b/apps/settings_list.c
@@ -1167,13 +1167,13 @@ const struct settings_list settings[] = {
                      ICON_DIR "/", ".bmp", MAX_FILENAME+1),
     FILENAME_SETTING(F_THEMESETTING, viewers_icon_file, "viewers iconset", "",
                      ICON_DIR "/", ".bmp", MAX_FILENAME+1),
+#endif
 #ifdef HAVE_REMOTE_LCD
     FILENAME_SETTING(F_THEMESETTING, remote_icon_file, "remote iconset", "",
                      ICON_DIR "/", ".bmp", MAX_FILENAME+1),
     FILENAME_SETTING(F_THEMESETTING, remote_viewers_icon_file,
                      "remote viewers iconset", "",
                      ICON_DIR "/", ".bmp", MAX_FILENAME+1),
-#endif
 #endif /* HAVE_REMOTE_LCD */
 };
 
diff --git a/tools/buildzip.pl b/tools/buildzip.pl
index 8e1ca3b98a..06523c3ae3 100755
--- a/tools/buildzip.pl
+++ b/tools/buildzip.pl
@@ -209,6 +209,23 @@ sub buildzip {
 
     mkdir ".rockbox/wps", 0777;
     mkdir ".rockbox/themes", 0777;
+    if ($bitmap) {
+        open(THEME, ">.rockbox/themes/rockbox_default_icons.cfg");
+        print THEME <<STOP
+# this config file was auto-generated to make it
+# easy to reset the icons back to default
+iconset: -
+# taken from apps/gui/icon.c
+viewers iconset: /.rockbox/icons/viewers.bmp
+remote iconset: -
+# taken from apps/gui/icon.c
+remote viewers iconset: /.rockbox/icons/remote_viewers.bmp
+
+STOP
+;
+        close(THEME);
+    }
+    
     mkdir ".rockbox/codepages", 0777;
 
     if($bitmap) {