diff --git a/pygeoapi/api/maps.py b/pygeoapi/api/maps.py
index 23ce03ca1..5926c90cb 100644
--- a/pygeoapi/api/maps.py
+++ b/pygeoapi/api/maps.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
 from pygeoapi.provider.base import (
     ProviderGenericError, ProviderInvalidDataError
 )
-from pygeoapi.util import to_json, filter_dict_by_key_value
+from pygeoapi.util import str2bool, to_json, filter_dict_by_key_value
 
 from . import APIRequest, API, validate_datetime, validate_subset
 
@@ -132,7 +132,8 @@ def get_collection_map(api: API, request: APIRequest,
 
     LOGGER.debug(f'Using bbox-crs: {query_args['bbox-crs']}')
 
-    query_args['transparent'] = request.params.get('transparent', True)
+    query_args['transparent'] = str2bool(
+        request.params.get('transparent', True))
 
     try:
         query_args['width'] = int(request.params.get('width', 500))
diff --git a/tests/api/test_maps.py b/tests/api/test_maps.py
index b13228d2f..81759d333 100644
--- a/tests/api/test_maps.py
+++ b/tests/api/test_maps.py
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@
 
 from http import HTTPStatus
 
+import pytest
+
+from pygeoapi.api import maps
 from pygeoapi.api.maps import get_collection_map
 
 from tests.util import mock_api_request
@@ -64,6 +67,31 @@ def test_get_collection_map(config, api_):
     assert code == HTTPStatus.NOT_IMPLEMENTED
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('value, expected', [
+    (None, True),
+    ('true', True),
+    ('True', True),
+    ('false', False),
+    ('False', False),
+])
+def test_get_collection_map_transparent(api_, monkeypatch, value, expected):
+    seen = {}
+
+    class Provider:
+        def query(self, **kwargs):
+            seen.update(kwargs)
+            return b'image'
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(maps, 'load_plugin', lambda *args: Provider())
+
+    params = {} if value is None else {'transparent': value}
+    req = mock_api_request(params)
+    _, code, _ = get_collection_map(api_, req, 'mapserver_world_map')
+
+    assert code == HTTPStatus.OK
+    assert seen['transparent'] is expected
+
+
 def test_map_crs_transform(config, api_):
     # Florida in EPSG:4326
     params = {