diff --git a/js/id/core/entity.js b/js/id/core/entity.js
index 3769f8fc0..e8181da16 100644
--- a/js/id/core/entity.js
+++ b/js/id/core/entity.js
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ iD.Entity.key = function(entity) {
     return entity.id + ',' + entity.v;
 };
 
+iD.Entity.areaPath = d3.geo.path()
+    .projection(d3.geo.mercator()
+        .scale(12016420.517592335));
+
 iD.Entity.prototype = {
     tags: {},
 
@@ -95,9 +99,12 @@ iD.Entity.prototype = {
         return this.extent(resolver).intersects(extent);
     },
 
-    area: function(resolver, path) {
+    // Returns the (possibly negative) area of the entity in square pixels at an
+    // arbitrary unspecified zoom level -- so basically, only useful for relative
+    // comparisons.
+    area: function(resolver) {
         return resolver.transient(this, 'area', function() {
-            return path.area(this);
+            return iD.Entity.areaPath.area(this.asGeoJSON(resolver, true));
         });
     },
 
diff --git a/js/id/core/way.js b/js/id/core/way.js
index 34ac0339f..ddfb164e9 100644
--- a/js/id/core/way.js
+++ b/js/id/core/way.js
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ _.extend(iD.Way.prototype, {
             childnodes = childnodes.concat([childnodes[0]]);
         }
 
-        if (this.isArea() && (close || this.isClosed())) {
+        if (this.isArea() && childnodes.length >= 4 && (close || this.isClosed())) {
             return {
                 type: 'Feature',
                 properties: this.tags,
diff --git a/js/id/svg/areas.js b/js/id/svg/areas.js
index 7d3277233..b051c7b04 100644
--- a/js/id/svg/areas.js
+++ b/js/id/svg/areas.js
@@ -37,12 +37,12 @@ iD.svg.Areas = function(projection) {
             if (multipolygon = iD.geo.isSimpleMultipolygonOuterMember(entity, graph)) {
                 areas[multipolygon.id] = {
                     entity: multipolygon.mergeTags(entity.tags),
-                    area: Math.abs(entity.area(graph, path))
+                    area: Math.abs(entity.area(graph))
                 };
             } else if (!areas[entity.id]) {
                 areas[entity.id] = {
                     entity: entity,
-                    area: Math.abs(entity.area(graph, path))
+                    area: Math.abs(entity.area(graph))
                 };
             }
         }
diff --git a/test/spec/core/entity.js b/test/spec/core/entity.js
index 2190d7125..ef2cee6e5 100644
--- a/test/spec/core/entity.js
+++ b/test/spec/core/entity.js
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ describe('iD.Entity', function () {
         });
     });
 
-   describe("#hasDeprecatedTags", function () {
+    describe("#hasDeprecatedTags", function () {
         it("returns false if entity has no tags", function () {
             expect(iD.Entity().deprecatedTags()).to.eql({});
         });
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ describe('iD.Entity', function () {
         it("returns true if entity has deprecated tags", function () {
             expect(iD.Entity({ tags: { barrier: 'wire_fence' } }).deprecatedTags()).to.eql({ barrier: 'wire_fence' });
         });
-   });
+    });
 
     describe("#hasInterestingTags", function () {
         it("returns false if the entity has no tags", function () {
@@ -171,4 +171,42 @@ describe('iD.Entity', function () {
             expect(iD.Entity({tags: {'tiger:source': 'blah', 'tiger:foo': 'bar'}}).hasInterestingTags()).to.equal(false);
         });
     });
+
+    describe("#area", function() {
+        it("returns a relative measure of area", function () {
+            var graph = iD.Graph({
+                    'a': iD.Node({id: 'a', loc: [-0.0002,  0.0001]}),
+                    'b': iD.Node({id: 'b', loc: [ 0.0002,  0.0001]}),
+                    'c': iD.Node({id: 'c', loc: [ 0.0002, -0.0001]}),
+                    'd': iD.Node({id: 'd', loc: [-0.0002, -0.0001]}),
+                    'e': iD.Node({id: 'a', loc: [-0.0004,  0.0002]}),
+                    'f': iD.Node({id: 'b', loc: [ 0.0004,  0.0002]}),
+                    'g': iD.Node({id: 'c', loc: [ 0.0004, -0.0002]}),
+                    'h': iD.Node({id: 'd', loc: [-0.0004, -0.0002]}),
+                    's': iD.Way({id: 's', tags: {area: 'yes'}, nodes: ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'a']}),
+                    'l': iD.Way({id: 'l', tags: {area: 'yes'}, nodes: ['e', 'f', 'g', 'h', 'e']})
+                });
+
+            var s = Math.abs(graph.entity('s').area(graph)),
+                l = Math.abs(graph.entity('l').area(graph));
+
+            expect(s).to.be.lt(l);
+        });
+
+        it("returns 0 for degenerate areas", function () {
+            var graph = iD.Graph({
+                    'a': iD.Node({id: 'a', loc: [-0.0002,  0.0001]}),
+                    'b': iD.Node({id: 'b', loc: [ 0.0002,  0.0001]}),
+                    'c': iD.Node({id: 'c', loc: [ 0.0002, -0.0001]}),
+                    'd': iD.Node({id: 'd', loc: [-0.0002, -0.0001]}),
+                    '0': iD.Way({id: '0', tags: {area: 'yes'}, nodes: []}),
+                    '1': iD.Way({id: '1', tags: {area: 'yes'}, nodes: ['a']}),
+                    '2': iD.Way({id: '2', tags: {area: 'yes'}, nodes: ['a', 'b']})
+                });
+
+            expect(graph.entity('0').area(graph)).to.equal(0);
+            expect(graph.entity('1').area(graph)).to.equal(0);
+            expect(graph.entity('2').area(graph)).to.equal(0);
+        });
+    });
 });
diff --git a/test/spec/svg/areas.js b/test/spec/svg/areas.js
index bc14243e0..cebaff9bf 100644
--- a/test/spec/svg/areas.js
+++ b/test/spec/svg/areas.js
@@ -53,12 +53,16 @@ describe("iD.svg.Areas", function () {
 
     it("stacks smaller areas above larger ones", function () {
         var graph = iD.Graph({
-                'a': iD.Node({id: 'a', loc: [0, 0]}),
-                'b': iD.Node({id: 'b', loc: [1, 0]}),
-                'c': iD.Node({id: 'c', loc: [1, 1]}),
-                'd': iD.Node({id: 'd', loc: [0, 1]}),
-                's': iD.Way({id: 's', tags: {building: 'yes'}, nodes: ['a', 'b', 'c', 'a']}),
-                'l': iD.Way({id: 'l', tags: {landuse: 'park'}, nodes: ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'a']})
+                'a': iD.Node({id: 'a', loc: [-0.0002,  0.0001]}),
+                'b': iD.Node({id: 'b', loc: [ 0.0002,  0.0001]}),
+                'c': iD.Node({id: 'c', loc: [ 0.0002, -0.0001]}),
+                'd': iD.Node({id: 'd', loc: [-0.0002, -0.0001]}),
+                'e': iD.Node({id: 'a', loc: [-0.0004,  0.0002]}),
+                'f': iD.Node({id: 'b', loc: [ 0.0004,  0.0002]}),
+                'g': iD.Node({id: 'c', loc: [ 0.0004, -0.0002]}),
+                'h': iD.Node({id: 'd', loc: [-0.0004, -0.0002]}),
+                's': iD.Way({id: 's', tags: {building: 'yes'}, nodes: ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'a']}),
+                'l': iD.Way({id: 'l', tags: {landuse: 'park'}, nodes: ['e', 'f', 'g', 'h', 'e']})
             }),
             areas = [graph.entity('s'), graph.entity('l')];