diff --git a/libdap2/ncd2dispatch.c b/libdap2/ncd2dispatch.c
index d60eb674ad..e269345107 100644
--- a/libdap2/ncd2dispatch.c
+++ b/libdap2/ncd2dispatch.c
@@ -769,6 +769,8 @@ fprintf(stderr,"buildvars.candidate=|%s|\n",var->ncfullname);
  	    }
         }
 
+
+
 	definename = getdefinename(var);
 
 #ifdef DEBUG1
diff --git a/oc2/ocnode.c b/oc2/ocnode.c
index b840f9d39c..86913b5031 100644
--- a/oc2/ocnode.c
+++ b/oc2/ocnode.c
@@ -6,22 +6,14 @@
 #include "occompile.h"
 #include "ocdebug.h"
 
-/* If enabled, then DAS attributes that cannot
-   be connected to any variable will be shown as
-   global attributes. No obvious reason to enable
-   except possibly for debugging purposes.
-*/
-#undef SHOWORPHAN
-
 static const unsigned int MAX_UINT = 0xffffffff;
 
 static OCerror mergedas1(OCnode* dds, OCnode* das);
 static OCerror mergedods1(OCnode* dds, OCnode* das);
 static char* pathtostring(OClist* path, char* separator);
 static void computefullname(OCnode* node);
-#ifdef SHOWORPHAN
 static OCerror mergeother1(OCnode* root, OCnode* das);
-#endif
+static OCerror mergeother(OCnode* ddsroot, OClist* dasnodes);
 
 /* Process ocnodes to fix various semantic issues*/
 void
@@ -344,15 +336,13 @@ ocddsdasmerge(OCstate* state, OCnode* dasroot, OCnode* ddsroot)
 	mergedods1(ddsroot,das);
     }
 
-#ifdef SHOWORPHAN
     /* 6. Assign other orphan attributes, which means
-	  construct their full name and assign as a global attribute. */
-    for(i=0;i<oclistlength(dasnodes);i++) {
-	OCnode* das = (OCnode*)oclistget(dasnodes,i);
-	if(das == NULL) continue;
-	mergeother1(ddsroot, das);
-    }
-#endif
+	  construct their full name and assign as a global attribute.
+	  This is complicated because some servers (e.g. thredds) returns
+          attributes for variables that were not referenced in the DDS.
+          These we continue to suppress.
+     */
+    mergeother(ddsroot,dasnodes);
 
 done:
     /* cleanup*/
@@ -374,6 +364,11 @@ mergedas1(OCnode* dds, OCnode* das)
     for(i=0;i<oclistlength(das->subnodes);i++) {
 	OCnode* attnode = (OCnode*)oclistget(das->subnodes,i);
 	if(attnode->octype == OC_Attribute) {
+	    if(dds->octype == OC_Atomic
+		|| dds->octype == OC_Sequence
+		|| dds->octype == OC_Structure
+		|| dds->octype == OC_Grid)
+	        attnode->att.var = dds;
 	    OCattribute* att = makeattribute(attnode->name,
 						attnode->etype,
 						attnode->att.values);
@@ -418,7 +413,19 @@ mergedods1(OCnode* dds, OCnode* dods)
     return OCTHROW(stat);
 }
 
-#ifdef SHOWORPHAN
+static OCerror
+mergeother(OCnode* ddsroot, OClist* dasnodes)
+{
+    OCerror stat = OC_NOERR;
+    int i;
+    for(i=0;i<oclistlength(dasnodes);i++) {
+	OCnode* das = (OCnode*)oclistget(dasnodes,i);
+	if(das == NULL) continue;
+	if((stat = mergeother1(ddsroot, das))) break;
+    }
+    return stat;
+}
+
 static OCerror
 mergeother1(OCnode* root, OCnode* das)
 {
@@ -428,6 +435,9 @@ mergeother1(OCnode* root, OCnode* das)
     OCASSERT(root != NULL);
     if(root->attributes == NULL) root->attributes = oclistnew();
 
+    /* Only include if this is not connected to a variable */
+    if(das->att.var != NULL) goto done;
+
     if(das->octype == OC_Attribute) {
         /* compute the full name of this attribute */
         computefullname(das);
@@ -444,9 +454,9 @@ mergeother1(OCnode* root, OCnode* das)
 	}	
     } else
 	stat = OC_EDAS;
+done:
     return OCTHROW(stat);
 }
-#endif
 
 static void
 ocuncorrelate(OCnode* root)
diff --git a/oc2/ocnode.h b/oc2/ocnode.h
index 12cf0a9405..e7821dfaa3 100644
--- a/oc2/ocnode.h
+++ b/oc2/ocnode.h
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ typedef struct OCattinfo {
     int isglobal; /* is this supposed to be a global attribute set?*/
     int isdods;   /* is this a global DODS_XXX  attribute set */
     OClist* values; /* oclist<char*>*/
+    struct OCnode* var; /* containing var else null */
 } OCattinfo;
 
 /*! Specifies the OCnode. */