diff --git a/mods/ITEMS/mcl_maps/init.lua b/mods/ITEMS/mcl_maps/init.lua
index ad40f4c6..b6315127 100644
--- a/mods/ITEMS/mcl_maps/init.lua
+++ b/mods/ITEMS/mcl_maps/init.lua
@@ -153,8 +153,122 @@ function mcl_maps.load_map(id)
 	return texture
 end
 
+local function encode_item_meta(input)
+	return minetest.encode_base64(
+		minetest.compress(
+			input,
+			"deflate",
+			9
+		)
+	)
+end
+
+local function decode_item_meta(input)
+	return minetest.decompress(
+		minetest.decode_base64(input),
+		"deflate",
+		9
+	)
+end
+
+result_original = "foo\0\01\02\x03\n\rbar"
+result_roundtrip = decode_item_meta(
+	encode_item_meta(result_original)
+)
+assert(
+	result_original == result_roundtrip,
+	"mcl_maps: mismatch between encode_item_meta() and decode_item_meta()"
+)
+
 function mcl_maps.load_map_item(itemstack)
-	return mcl_maps.load_map(itemstack:get_meta():get_string("mcl_maps:id"))
+	local meta = itemstack:get_meta()
+	local map_id = meta:get_string("mcl_maps:id")
+
+	if "" == map_id or creating_maps[map_id] then
+		-- wait for map content to be created
+		return
+	end
+	
+	if loaded_maps[map_id] then
+		-- texture has already been sent
+		return mcl_maps.load_map(map_id)
+	end
+
+	local texture_file_name = "mcl_maps_map_texture_" .. map_id .. ".tga"
+	local texture_file_path = map_textures_path .. texture_file_name
+
+	-- does the texture file exist?
+	local texture_file_handle_read = io.open(
+	   texture_file_path,
+	   "rb"
+	)
+	local texture_file_exists = true
+	local texture_data_from_file
+	if nil == texture_file_handle_read then
+		texture_file_exists = false
+	else
+		texture_data_from_file = texture_file_handle_read:read("*a")
+		texture_file_handle_read:close()
+	end
+
+	-- does the texture item meta exist?
+	local tga_deflate_base64 = meta:get_string("mcl_maps:tga_deflate_base64")
+	local texture_item_meta_exists = true
+	if "" == tga_deflate_base64 then
+		texture_item_meta_exists = false
+	end
+
+	if texture_file_exists and nil ~= texture_data_from_file then
+		if texture_item_meta_exists then
+			-- sanity check: do we have the same textures?
+			-- if server-side texture has changed, take it
+			if decode_item_meta(tga_deflate_base64) ~= texture_data_from_file then
+				minetest.log(
+					"action",
+					"mcl_maps: update item meta from file content for map " .. map_id
+				)
+				meta:set_string(
+					"mcl_maps:tga_deflate_base64",
+					encode_item_meta(texture_data_from_file)
+				)
+			end
+		else
+			-- probably an older map from mcl2 or mcl5, so
+			-- we now write the file contents to item meta
+			minetest.log(
+				"action",
+				"mcl_maps: create item meta from file content for map " .. map_id
+			)
+			meta:set_string(
+				"mcl_maps:tga_deflate_base64",
+				encode_item_meta(texture_data_from_file)
+			)
+		end
+	else
+		-- no texture file → could be a world download
+		-- so we look for missing texture in item meta
+		-- and write that to the map texture file here
+		if texture_item_meta_exists then
+			minetest.log(
+				"action",
+				"mcl_maps: create file content from item meta for map " .. map_id
+			)
+			assert(
+				minetest.safe_file_write(
+					texture_file_path,
+					decode_item_meta(tga_deflate_base64)
+				)
+			)
+		else
+			minetest.log(
+				"error",
+				"no data for map " .. map_id
+			)
+			return
+		end
+	end
+
+	return mcl_maps.load_map(map_id)
 end
 
 local function fill_map(itemstack, placer, pointed_thing)