diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwrender/occlusionquery.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwrender/occlusionquery.cpp
index 6c74561e95..baf55b0249 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwrender/occlusionquery.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwrender/occlusionquery.cpp
@@ -45,19 +45,21 @@ OcclusionQuery::OcclusionQuery(OEngine::Render::OgreRenderer* renderer, SceneNod
     matQueryVisible->setColourWriteEnabled(false);
     matQueryVisible->setDepthCheckEnabled(true); // Occluded by objects
 
+    mBBNode = mSunNode->getParentSceneNode()->createChildSceneNode();
+
     mBBQueryTotal = mRendering->getScene()->createBillboardSet(1);
     mBBQueryTotal->setDefaultDimensions(150, 150);
     mBBQueryTotal->createBillboard(Vector3::ZERO);
     mBBQueryTotal->setMaterialName("QueryTotalPixels");
     mBBQueryTotal->setRenderQueueGroup(queue);
-    mSunNode->attachObject(mBBQueryTotal);
+    mBBNode->attachObject(mBBQueryTotal);
 
     mBBQueryVisible = mRendering->getScene()->createBillboardSet(1);
     mBBQueryVisible->setDefaultDimensions(150, 150);
     mBBQueryVisible->createBillboard(Vector3::ZERO);
     mBBQueryVisible->setMaterialName("QueryVisiblePixels");
     mBBQueryVisible->setRenderQueueGroup(queue);
-    mSunNode->attachObject(mBBQueryVisible);
+    mBBNode->attachObject(mBBQueryVisible);
 
     mRendering->getScene()->addRenderObjectListener(this);
     mDoQuery = true;
@@ -110,6 +112,15 @@ void OcclusionQuery::update()
 {
     if (!mSupported) return;
 
+    // Adjust the position of the sun billboards according to camera viewing distance
+    // we need to do this to make sure that _everything_ can occlude the sun
+    float dist = mRendering->getCamera()->getFarClipDistance();
+    if (dist==0) dist = 10000000;
+    dist -= 1000; // bias
+    dist /= 1000.f;
+    mBBNode->setPosition(mSunNode->getPosition() * dist);
+    mBBNode->setScale(dist, dist, dist);
+
     // Stop occlusion queries until we get their information
     // (may not happen on the same frame they are requested in)
     mDoQuery = false;
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwrender/occlusionquery.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwrender/occlusionquery.hpp
index e6adc0d4b3..2545e590e9 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwrender/occlusionquery.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwrender/occlusionquery.hpp
@@ -17,11 +17,32 @@ namespace MWRender
         OcclusionQuery(OEngine::Render::OgreRenderer*, Ogre::SceneNode* sunNode);
         ~OcclusionQuery();
 
+        /**
+         * @return true if occlusion queries are supported on the user's hardware
+         */
         bool supported();
-        ///< returns true if occlusion queries are supported on the user's hardware
 
+        /**
+         * per-frame update
+         */
         void update();
-        ///< per-frame update
+
+        /**
+         * request occlusion test for a billboard at the given position, omitting an entity
+         * @param position of the billboard in ogre coordinates
+         * @param entity to exclude from the occluders
+         */
+        void occlusionTest(const Ogre::Vector3& position, Ogre::Entity* entity);
+
+        /**
+         * @return true if a request is still outstanding
+         */
+        bool occlusionTestPending();
+
+        /**
+         * @return true if the object tested in the last request was occluded
+         */
+        bool getTestResult();
 
         float getSunVisibility() const {return mSunVisibility;};
 
@@ -35,8 +56,12 @@ namespace MWRender
 
         Ogre::SceneNode* mSunNode;
 
+        Ogre::SceneNode* mBBNode;
+
         float mSunVisibility;
 
+        bool mTestResult;
+
         bool mSupported;
         bool mDoQuery;