diff --git a/src/util/ajax.js b/src/util/ajax.js
index 9cce7ff090f..98c4ea6b931 100644
--- a/src/util/ajax.js
+++ b/src/util/ajax.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import window from './window';
 import { extend } from './util';
 import { isMapboxHTTPURL } from './mapbox';
 import config from './config';
+import assert from 'assert';
 
 import type { Callback } from '../types/callback';
 import type { Cancelable } from '../types/cancelable';
@@ -110,6 +111,10 @@ function makeFetchRequest(requestParameters: RequestParameters, callback: Respon
             callback(new AJAXError(response.statusText, response.status, requestParameters.url));
         }
     }).catch((error) => {
+        if (error.code === 20) {
+            // silence expected AbortError
+            return;
+        }
         callback(new Error(error.message));
     });
 
@@ -175,8 +180,12 @@ function sameOrigin(url) {
 
 const transparentPngUrl = 'data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAYAAAAfFcSJAAAAC0lEQVQYV2NgAAIAAAUAAarVyFEAAAAASUVORK5CYII=';
 
-const imageQueue = [];
-let numImageRequests = 0;
+let imageQueue, numImageRequests;
+export const resetImageRequestQueue = () => {
+    imageQueue = [];
+    numImageRequests = 0;
+};
+resetImageRequestQueue();
 
 export const getImage = function(requestParameters: RequestParameters, callback: Callback<HTMLImageElement>): Cancelable {
     // limit concurrent image loads to help with raster sources performance on big screens
@@ -187,17 +196,25 @@ export const getImage = function(requestParameters: RequestParameters, callback:
     }
     numImageRequests++;
 
-    // request the image with XHR to work around caching issues
-    // see https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/1470
-    return getArrayBuffer(requestParameters, (err: ?Error, data: ?ArrayBuffer, cacheControl: ?string, expires: ?string) => {
-
+    let advanced = false;
+    const advanceImageRequestQueue = () => {
+        if (advanced) return;
+        advanced = true;
         numImageRequests--;
+        assert(numImageRequests >= 0);
         while (imageQueue.length && numImageRequests < config.MAX_PARALLEL_IMAGE_REQUESTS) { // eslint-disable-line
             const {requestParameters, callback, cancelled} = imageQueue.shift();
             if (!cancelled) {
                 getImage(requestParameters, callback);
             }
         }
+    };
+
+    // request the image with XHR to work around caching issues
+    // see https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/1470
+    const request = getArrayBuffer(requestParameters, (err: ?Error, data: ?ArrayBuffer, cacheControl: ?string, expires: ?string) => {
+
+        advanceImageRequestQueue();
 
         if (err) {
             callback(err);
@@ -215,6 +232,13 @@ export const getImage = function(requestParameters: RequestParameters, callback:
             img.src = data.byteLength ? URL.createObjectURL(blob) : transparentPngUrl;
         }
     });
+
+    return {
+        cancel: () => {
+            request.cancel();
+            advanceImageRequestQueue();
+        }
+    };
 };
 
 export const getVideo = function(urls: Array<string>, callback: Callback<HTMLVideoElement>): Cancelable {
diff --git a/test/unit/util/ajax.test.js b/test/unit/util/ajax.test.js
index 69f24906984..97c6f1ff2b6 100644
--- a/test/unit/util/ajax.test.js
+++ b/test/unit/util/ajax.test.js
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ import {
     getArrayBuffer,
     getJSON,
     postData,
-    getImage
+    getImage,
+    resetImageRequestQueue
 } from '../../../src/util/ajax';
 import window from '../../../src/util/window';
 import config from '../../../src/util/config';
@@ -128,5 +129,28 @@ test('ajax', (t) => {
         window.server.requests[0].respond();
     });
 
+    t.test('getImage cancelling frees up request for maxParallelImageRequests', (t) => {
+        resetImageRequestQueue();
+
+        window.server.respondWith(request => request.respond(200, {'Content-Type': 'image/png'}, ''));
+
+        const maxRequests = config.MAX_PARALLEL_IMAGE_REQUESTS;
+
+        // jsdom doesn't call image onload; fake it https://github.com/jsdom/jsdom/issues/1816
+        const jsdomImage = window.Image;
+        window.Image = class {
+            set src(src) {
+                setTimeout(() => this.onload());
+            }
+        };
+
+        for (let i = 0; i < maxRequests + 1; i++) {
+            getImage({url: ''}, () => t.fail).cancel();
+        }
+        t.equals(window.server.requests.length, maxRequests + 1);
+        window.Image = jsdomImage;
+        t.end();
+    });
+
     t.end();
 });