diff --git a/src/lay/lay/layTechnologyController.cc b/src/lay/lay/layTechnologyController.cc
index 376ae24bf..103e7a1cc 100644
--- a/src/lay/lay/layTechnologyController.cc
+++ b/src/lay/lay/layTechnologyController.cc
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ TechnologyController::initialized (lay::Dispatcher *dispatcher)
   tl_assert (dispatcher == mp_dispatcher);
 
   update_menu (mp_dispatcher);
-  connect_events ();
+  view_changed ();
 
   if (lay::SaltController::instance ()) {
     connect (lay::SaltController::instance (), SIGNAL (salt_changed ()), this, SLOT (sync_with_external_sources ()));
@@ -121,8 +121,10 @@ TechnologyController::get_menu_entries (std::vector<lay::MenuEntry> &menu_entrie
 }
 
 void
-TechnologyController::connect_events ()
+TechnologyController::view_changed ()
 {
+  update_active_technology ();
+
   //  NOTE: the whole concept is a but strange here: the goal is to
   //  connect to the current view's active_cellview_changed event and
   //  the active cellview's technology_changed event. We could register
@@ -140,15 +142,13 @@ TechnologyController::connect_events ()
 
     //  NOTE: the "real" call needs to come before the re-connect handler because
     //  the latter will remove the update call
-    mp_mw->current_view_changed_event.add (this, &TechnologyController::update_active_technology);
-    mp_mw->current_view_changed_event.add (this, &TechnologyController::connect_events);
+    mp_mw->current_view_changed_event.add (this, &TechnologyController::view_changed);
 
     if (mp_mw->current_view ()) {
 
       //  NOTE: the "real" call needs to come before the re-connect handler because
       //  the latter will remove the update call
-      mp_mw->current_view ()->active_cellview_changed_event.add (this, &TechnologyController::update_active_technology);
-      mp_mw->current_view ()->active_cellview_changed_event.add (this, &TechnologyController::connect_events);
+      mp_mw->current_view ()->active_cellview_changed_event.add (this, &TechnologyController::view_changed);
 
       if (mp_mw->current_view ()->active_cellview_index () >= 0 && mp_mw->current_view ()->active_cellview_index () <= int (mp_mw->current_view ()->cellviews ())) {
         mp_mw->current_view ()->active_cellview ()->technology_changed_event.add (this, &TechnologyController::update_active_technology);
@@ -178,20 +178,19 @@ TechnologyController::update_active_technology ()
 
   }
 
-  if (mp_active_technology != active_tech) {
 
-    mp_active_technology = active_tech;
+  mp_active_technology = active_tech;
 
-    if (mp_mw) {
-      if (active_tech) {
-        mp_mw->tech_message (tech_string_from_name (active_tech->name ()));
-      } else {
-        mp_mw->tech_message (std::string ());
-      }
+  if (mp_mw) {
+    if (active_tech) {
+      mp_mw->tech_message (tech_string_from_name (active_tech->name ()));
+    } else {
+      mp_mw->tech_message (std::string ());
     }
+  }
 
+  if (mp_active_technology != active_tech) {
     emit active_technology_changed ();
-
   }
 
 #if 0 
diff --git a/src/lay/lay/layTechnologyController.h b/src/lay/lay/layTechnologyController.h
index 8717fc9e8..f783dc4de 100644
--- a/src/lay/lay/layTechnologyController.h
+++ b/src/lay/lay/layTechnologyController.h
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ private:
   db::Technology *mp_active_technology;
 
   void update_active_technology ();
-  void connect_events ();
+  void view_changed ();
   void technologies_changed ();
   void technology_changed (db::Technology *);
   bool configure (const std::string &name, const std::string &value);
diff --git a/src/laybasic/laybasic/layLayoutViewBase.cc b/src/laybasic/laybasic/layLayoutViewBase.cc
index 30f242720..bf711a53d 100644
--- a/src/laybasic/laybasic/layLayoutViewBase.cc
+++ b/src/laybasic/laybasic/layLayoutViewBase.cc
@@ -3231,12 +3231,12 @@ LayoutViewBase::add_layout (lay::LayoutHandle *layout_handle, bool add_cellview,
       std::vector <db::cell_index_type> p;
       p.push_back (*top);
       select_cell (p, cv_index);
-    } else {
-      //  even if there is no cell, select the cellview item
-      //  to support applications with an active cellview (that is however invalid)
-      set_active_cellview_index (cv_index);
     }
 
+    //  even if there is no cell, select the cellview item
+    //  to support applications with an active cellview (that is however invalid)
+    set_active_cellview_index (cv_index);
+
     if (initialize_layers) {
 
       bool add_other_layers = m_add_other_layers;
@@ -3405,6 +3405,9 @@ LayoutViewBase::load_layout (const std::string &filename, const db::LoadLayoutOp
       select_cell (p, cv_index);
     }
 
+    //  force "active_cellview_changed" event
+    m_active_cellview_index = -1;
+
     //  even if there is no cell, select the cellview item
     //  to support applications with an active cellview (that is however invalid)
     set_active_cellview_index (cv_index);