diff --git a/src/layui/layui/rdbMarkerBrowserPage.cc b/src/layui/layui/rdbMarkerBrowserPage.cc
index 173f20739..7d9625053 100644
--- a/src/layui/layui/rdbMarkerBrowserPage.cc
+++ b/src/layui/layui/rdbMarkerBrowserPage.cc
@@ -806,25 +806,43 @@ private:
 
   size_t num_waived_per_cat (id_type cat_id) const
   {
-    auto ii = mp_database->items_by_category (cat_id);
     size_t n = 0;
+
+    auto ii = mp_database->items_by_category (cat_id);
     for (auto i = ii.first; i != ii.second; ++i) {
       if ((*i)->has_tag (m_waived_tag_id)) {
         ++n;
       }
     }
+
+    //  include sub-categories
+    const rdb::Category *cat = mp_database->category_by_id (cat_id);
+    tl_assert (cat != 0);
+    for (auto c = cat->sub_categories ().begin (); c != cat->sub_categories ().end (); ++c) {
+      n += num_waived_per_cat (c->id ());
+    }
+
     return n;
   }
 
   size_t num_waived_per_cell_and_cat (id_type cell_id, id_type cat_id) const
   {
-    auto ii = mp_database->items_by_cell_and_category (cell_id, cat_id);
     size_t n = 0;
+
+    auto ii = mp_database->items_by_cell_and_category (cell_id, cat_id);
     for (auto i = ii.first; i != ii.second; ++i) {
       if ((*i)->has_tag (m_waived_tag_id)) {
         ++n;
       }
     }
+
+    //  include sub-categories
+    const rdb::Category *cat = mp_database->category_by_id (cat_id);
+    tl_assert (cat != 0);
+    for (auto c = cat->sub_categories ().begin (); c != cat->sub_categories ().end (); ++c) {
+      n += num_waived_per_cell_and_cat (cell_id, c->id ());
+    }
+
     return n;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/rdb/rdb/rdb.cc b/src/rdb/rdb/rdb.cc
index b3ea21a41..b1e41866c 100644
--- a/src/rdb/rdb/rdb.cc
+++ b/src/rdb/rdb/rdb.cc
@@ -1868,6 +1868,18 @@ namespace
   };
 }
 
+static void map_category (const rdb::Category &cat, const rdb::Database &db, std::map<id_type, id_type> &cat2cat)
+{
+  const rdb::Category *this_cat = db.category_by_name (cat.path ());
+  if (this_cat) {
+    cat2cat.insert (std::make_pair (this_cat->id (), cat.id ()));
+  }
+
+  for (auto c = cat.sub_categories ().begin (); c != cat.sub_categories ().end (); ++c) {
+    map_category (*c, db, cat2cat);
+  }
+}
+
 void
 Database::apply (const rdb::Database &other)
 {
@@ -1886,10 +1898,7 @@ Database::apply (const rdb::Database &other)
   }
 
   for (auto c = other.categories ().begin (); c != other.categories ().end (); ++c) {
-    const rdb::Category *this_cat = category_by_name (c->path ());
-    if (this_cat) {
-      cat2cat.insert (std::make_pair (this_cat->id (), c->id ()));
-    }
+    map_category (*c, *this, cat2cat);
   }
 
   std::map<std::string, id_type> tags_by_name;