diff --git a/lib/mpl_toolkits/basemap/__init__.py b/lib/mpl_toolkits/basemap/__init__.py
index e4fdc40a3..3b2859aed 100644
--- a/lib/mpl_toolkits/basemap/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/mpl_toolkits/basemap/__init__.py
@@ -4228,6 +4228,21 @@ def arcgisimage(self,server='http://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS',\
 
         returns a matplotlib.image.AxesImage instance.
         """
+
+
+        # fix PIL import on some versions of OSX and scipy
+        try:
+            from PIL import Image
+        except ImportError:
+            try:
+                import Image
+            except ImportError:
+                msg = ('arcgisimage method requires PIL '
+                       '(http://pillow.readthedocs.io)')
+                raise ImportError(msg)
+
+
+
         if not hasattr(self,'epsg'):
             msg = dedent("""
             Basemap instance must be creating using an EPSG code
@@ -4247,7 +4262,7 @@ def arcgisimage(self,server='http://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS',\
                 arcgisimage cannot handle images that cross
                 the dateline for cylindrical projections.""")
                 raise ValueError(msg)
-        if self.projection == 'cyl':
+        if self.projection != 'cyl':
             xmin = (180./np.pi)*xmin; xmax = (180./np.pi)*xmax
             ymin = (180./np.pi)*ymin; ymax = (180./np.pi)*ymax
         # ypixels not given, find by scaling xpixels by the map aspect ratio.
@@ -4268,8 +4283,8 @@ def arcgisimage(self,server='http://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS',\
         # print URL?
         if verbose: print(basemap_url)
         # return AxesImage instance.
-        return self.imshow(imread(urlopen(basemap_url)),ax=ax,
-                           origin='upper')
+        img = Image.open(urlopen(basemap_url))
+        return self.imshow(img, ax=ax, origin='upper')
 
     def wmsimage(self,server,\
                  xpixels=400,ypixels=None,\
diff --git a/lib/mpl_toolkits/basemap/test.py b/lib/mpl_toolkits/basemap/test.py
index 8dfa7dae0..c7325a1ff 100644
--- a/lib/mpl_toolkits/basemap/test.py
+++ b/lib/mpl_toolkits/basemap/test.py
@@ -244,11 +244,21 @@ def test_optional_casting(self):
 
 class TestOrthoProjPolygons(TestCase):
     def test_basemapcreation_should_not_fail(self):
-        # different resolutions should work 
+        # different resolutions should work
         for r in ['c', 'l', 'i', 'h', 'f']:
             m = Basemap(projection='ortho',resolution=r,lat_1=45.,lat_2=55,lat_0=50,lon_0=-107.)
         pass
 
+@skipIf(not PY3, "Test skipped for Python 2.x as it requires PIL installed")
+class TestArcgisimage(TestCase):
+	def test_cyl_proj_should_not_fail(self):
+		m = Basemap(projection='cyl',
+					llcrnrlon=-90,llcrnrlat=30,
+					urcrnrlon=-60,urcrnrlat=60)
+		m.arcgisimage(verbose=True)
+
+
+
 def test():
     """
     Run some tests.