diff --git a/src/install.js b/src/install.js
index aa57760797..b0357df8d5 100644
--- a/src/install.js
+++ b/src/install.js
@@ -158,6 +158,12 @@ var async = require('async'),
 						}, {
 							field: 'maximumProfileImageSize',
 							value: 256
+						}, {
+							field: 'theme:type',
+							value: 'local'
+						}, {
+							field: 'theme:id',
+							value: 'nodebb-theme-vanilla'
 						}];
 
 					async.each(defaults, function (configObj, next) {
diff --git a/src/webserver.js b/src/webserver.js
index b70c625323..06b8b1a4a4 100644
--- a/src/webserver.js
+++ b/src/webserver.js
@@ -144,8 +144,9 @@ var express = require('express'),
 					},
 					function(next) {
 						RDB.hmget('config', 'theme:type', 'theme:id', function(err, themeData) {
+							var themeId = (themeData[1] || 'nodebb-theme-vanilla');
+
 							if (!themeData[0] || themeData[0] === 'local') {
-								var themeId = (themeData[1] || 'nodebb-theme-vanilla');
 								if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') winston.info('[themes] Using theme ' + themeId);
 
 								app.use(require('less-middleware')({
@@ -155,6 +156,18 @@ var express = require('express'),
 									yuicompress: true
 								}));
 
+								next();
+							} else {
+								// If not using a local theme (bootswatch, etc), drop back to vanilla
+								if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') winston.info('[themes] Using theme ' + themeId);
+
+								app.use(require('less-middleware')({
+									src: path.join(__dirname, '../node_modules/nodebb-theme-vanilla'),
+									dest: path.join(__dirname, '../public/css'),
+									prefix: nconf.get('relative_path') + '/css',
+									yuicompress: true
+								}));
+
 								next();
 							}
 						});