diff --git a/src/Orchard.Specs/Bindings/OrchardSiteFactory.cs b/src/Orchard.Specs/Bindings/OrchardSiteFactory.cs
index a702b1d20..889a47292 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Specs/Bindings/OrchardSiteFactory.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard.Specs/Bindings/OrchardSiteFactory.cs
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@ namespace Orchard.Specs.Bindings {
             webApp.GivenIHaveACleanSiteWith(
                 virtualDirectory,
                 TableData(
-                new { extension = DefaultExtensionTypes.Module, names = "Orchard.Setup, Orchard.Pages, Orchard.Blogs, Orchard.Messaging, Orchard.Modules, Orchard.Packaging, Orchard.PublishLater, Orchard.Themes, Orchard.Scripting, Orchard.Widgets, Orchard.Users, Orchard.Roles, Orchard.Comments, Orchard.jQuery, Orchard.Tags, TinyMce" },
-                new { extension = DefaultExtensionTypes.Core, names = "Common, Dashboard, Feeds, HomePage, Navigation, Contents, Routable, Scheduling, Settings, Shapes, XmlRpc" },
-                new { extension = DefaultExtensionTypes.Theme, names = "SafeMode, TheAdmin, TheThemeMachine" }));
+                new { extension = "Module", names = "Orchard.Setup, Orchard.Pages, Orchard.Blogs, Orchard.Messaging, Orchard.Modules, Orchard.Packaging, Orchard.PublishLater, Orchard.Themes, Orchard.Scripting, Orchard.Widgets, Orchard.Users, Orchard.Roles, Orchard.Comments, Orchard.jQuery, Orchard.Tags, TinyMce" },
+                new { extension = "Core", names = "Common, Dashboard, Feeds, HomePage, Navigation, Contents, Routable, Scheduling, Settings, Shapes, XmlRpc" },
+                new { extension = "Theme", names = "SafeMode, TheAdmin, TheThemeMachine" }));
 
             webApp.WhenIGoTo("Setup");
 
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Specs/Bindings/WebAppHosting.cs b/src/Orchard.Specs/Bindings/WebAppHosting.cs
index 7d3d839fc..7648b2e9d 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Specs/Bindings/WebAppHosting.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard.Specs/Bindings/WebAppHosting.cs
@@ -140,13 +140,13 @@ namespace Orchard.Specs.Bindings {
             foreach (var row in table.Rows) {
                 foreach (var name in row["names"].Split(',').Select(x => x.Trim())) {
                     switch (row["extension"]) {
-                        case DefaultExtensionTypes.Core:
+                        case "Core":
                             GivenIHaveCore(name);
                             break;
-                        case DefaultExtensionTypes.Module:
+                        case "Module":
                             GivenIHaveModule(name);
                             break;
-                        case DefaultExtensionTypes.Theme:
+                        case "Theme":
                             GivenIHaveTheme(name);
                             break;
                         default:
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Modules/Views/Admin/Features.cshtml b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Modules/Views/Admin/Features.cshtml
index 0b5ff95c8..3f252a303 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Modules/Views/Admin/Features.cshtml
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Modules/Views/Admin/Features.cshtml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
         }
 
         //temporarily "disable" actions on core features
-        var showActions = categoryName.ToString() != "Core";
+        bool showActions;
     <li class="@categoryClassName">
         <h2>@categoryName</h2>
         <ul>@{
@@ -46,9 +46,7 @@
                                     select (from f in Model.Features where f.Descriptor.Id == d select f).SingleOrDefault()).Where(f => f != null).OrderBy(f => f.Descriptor.Name);                
                 var missingDependencies = feature.Descriptor.Dependencies
                     .Where(d => !Model.Features.Any(f => f.Descriptor.Id == d));
-                if (showActions) {
-                    showActions = missingDependencies.Count() == 0;
-                }
+                showActions = categoryName.ToString() != "Core" && missingDependencies.Count() == 0;
             <li class="@featureClassName" id="@featureId" title="@T("{0} is {1}", Html.AttributeEncode(featureName), featureState)">
                 <div class="summary">
                     <div class="properties">
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Web.config b/src/Orchard.Web/Web.config
index 653221a2a..68c8c0377 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Web.config
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Web.config
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
     <section name="log4net" type="log4net.Config.Log4NetConfigurationSectionHandler, log4net" requirePermission="false" />
   </configSections>
-
+  
   <appSettings>
     <add key="webpages:Enabled" value="false" />
     <add key="log4net.Config" value="Config\log4net.config" />
@@ -143,7 +143,8 @@
       <probing privatePath="App_Data/Dependencies"/>
       <dependentAssembly>
         <assemblyIdentity name="System.Web.Mvc" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35"/>
-        <bindingRedirect  oldVersion="2.0.0.0" newVersion="3.0.0.0"  />
+        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0" newVersion="3.0.0.0"/>
+        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="2.0.0.0" newVersion="3.0.0.0"  />
       </dependentAssembly>
     </assemblyBinding>
   </runtime>
diff --git a/src/Orchard/Environment/Extensions/IExtensionManager.cs b/src/Orchard/Environment/Extensions/IExtensionManager.cs
index 723a82cd0..b79f0b95c 100644
--- a/src/Orchard/Environment/Extensions/IExtensionManager.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard/Environment/Extensions/IExtensionManager.cs
@@ -15,13 +15,7 @@ namespace Orchard.Environment.Extensions {
 
     public static class ExtensionManagerExtensions {
         public static IEnumerable<FeatureDescriptor> EnabledFeatures(this IExtensionManager extensionManager, ShellDescriptor descriptor) {
-            return extensionManager.AvailableExtensions()
-                .SelectMany(extensionDescriptor => extensionDescriptor.Features)
-                .Where(featureDescriptor => IsFeatureEnabledInDescriptor(featureDescriptor, descriptor));
-        }
-
-        private static bool IsFeatureEnabledInDescriptor(FeatureDescriptor featureDescriptor, ShellDescriptor shellDescriptor) {
-            return shellDescriptor.Features.Any(shellDescriptorFeature => shellDescriptorFeature.Name == featureDescriptor.Id);
+            return extensionManager.AvailableFeatures().Where(fd => descriptor.Features.Any(sf => sf.Name == fd.Id));
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Orchard/Environment/Extensions/Models/DefaultExtensionTypes.cs b/src/Orchard/Environment/Extensions/Models/DefaultExtensionTypes.cs
index 607fe8fcf..372cd2d77 100644
--- a/src/Orchard/Environment/Extensions/Models/DefaultExtensionTypes.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard/Environment/Extensions/Models/DefaultExtensionTypes.cs
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ namespace Orchard.Environment.Extensions.Models {
     public static class DefaultExtensionTypes {
         public const string Module = "Module";
         public const string Theme = "Theme";
-        public const string Core = "Core";
 
         public static bool IsModule(string extensionType) {
             return string.Equals(extensionType, Module, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
diff --git a/src/Orchard/Mvc/ViewEngines/ThemeAwareness/ThemeAwareViewEngine.cs b/src/Orchard/Mvc/ViewEngines/ThemeAwareness/ThemeAwareViewEngine.cs
index c7484e827..55ae0988a 100644
--- a/src/Orchard/Mvc/ViewEngines/ThemeAwareness/ThemeAwareViewEngine.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard/Mvc/ViewEngines/ThemeAwareness/ThemeAwareViewEngine.cs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ using System.Web.Mvc;
 using Orchard.Environment.Descriptor.Models;
 using Orchard.Environment.Extensions;
 using Orchard.Environment.Extensions.Models;
+using Orchard.Logging;
 
 namespace Orchard.Mvc.ViewEngines.ThemeAwareness {
     public interface IThemeAwareViewEngine : IDependency {
@@ -31,8 +32,12 @@ namespace Orchard.Mvc.ViewEngines.ThemeAwareness {
             _configuredEnginesCache = configuredEnginesCache;
             _extensionManager = extensionManager;
             _shellDescriptor = shellDescriptor;
+
+            Logger = NullLogger.Instance;
         }
 
+        public ILogger Logger { get; set; }
+
         public ViewEngineResult FindPartialView(ControllerContext controllerContext, string partialViewName, bool useCache, bool useDeepPaths) {
             var engines = _nullEngines;
 
@@ -71,21 +76,82 @@ namespace Orchard.Mvc.ViewEngines.ThemeAwareness {
 
         private IViewEngine DeepEngines(ExtensionDescriptor theme) {
             return _configuredEnginesCache.BindDeepEngines(theme.Id, () => {
+                // The order for searching for views is:
+                // 1. Current "theme"
+                // 2. Base themes of the current theme (in "base" order)
+                // 3. Active features from modules in dependency order
+
                 var engines = Enumerable.Empty<IViewEngine>();
-                var themeLocation = theme.Location + "/" + theme.Id;
+                // 1. current theme
+                engines = engines.Concat(CreateThemeViewEngines(theme));
 
-                var themeParams = new CreateThemeViewEngineParams { VirtualPath = themeLocation };
-                engines = engines.Concat(_viewEngineProviders.Select(vep => vep.CreateThemeViewEngine(themeParams)));
+                // 2. Base themes of the current theme (in "base" order)
+                engines = GetBaseThemes(theme).Aggregate(engines, (current, baseTheme) => current.Concat(CreateThemeViewEngines(baseTheme)));
 
-                var activeFeatures = _extensionManager.AvailableFeatures().Where(fd => _shellDescriptor.Features.Any(sdf => sdf.Name == fd.Id));
-                var activeModuleLocations = activeFeatures.Select(fd => fd.Extension.Location + "/" + fd.Extension.Id).Distinct();
-                var moduleParams = new CreateModulesViewEngineParams { VirtualPaths = activeModuleLocations };
+                // 3. Active features from modules in dependency order
+                var enabledModules = _extensionManager.EnabledFeatures(_shellDescriptor)
+                    .Reverse()  // reverse from (C <= B <= A) to (A => B => C)
+                    .Where(fd => DefaultExtensionTypes.IsModule(fd.Extension.ExtensionType));
+
+                var allLocations = enabledModules.Concat(enabledModules)
+                    .Select(fd => fd.Extension.Location + "/" + fd.Extension.Id)
+                    .Distinct(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
+                    .ToList();
+
+                var moduleParams = new CreateModulesViewEngineParams { VirtualPaths = allLocations };
                 engines = engines.Concat(_viewEngineProviders.Select(vep => vep.CreateModulesViewEngine(moduleParams)));
 
                 return new ViewEngineCollectionWrapper(engines);
             });
         }
 
+        private IEnumerable<IViewEngine> CreateThemeViewEngines(ExtensionDescriptor theme) {
+            var themeLocation = theme.Location + "/" + theme.Id;
+            var themeParams = new CreateThemeViewEngineParams {VirtualPath = themeLocation};
+            return _viewEngineProviders.Select(vep => vep.CreateThemeViewEngine(themeParams));
+        }
+
+        private IEnumerable<ExtensionDescriptor> GetBaseThemes(ExtensionDescriptor themeExtension) {
+            if (themeExtension.Id.Equals("TheAdmin", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)) {
+                // Special case: conceptually, the base themes of "TheAdmin" is the list of all
+                // enabled themes. This is so that any enabled theme can have controller/action/views
+                // in the Admin of the site.
+                return _extensionManager
+                    .EnabledFeatures(_shellDescriptor)
+                    .Reverse()  // reverse from (C <= B <= A) to (A => B => C)
+                    .Select(fd => fd.Extension)
+                    .Where(fd => DefaultExtensionTypes.IsTheme(fd.ExtensionType));
+            }
+            else {
+                var availableFeatures = _extensionManager.AvailableFeatures();
+                var list = new List<ExtensionDescriptor>();
+                while(true) {
+                    if (themeExtension == null)
+                        break;
+
+                    if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(themeExtension.BaseTheme))
+                        break;
+
+                    var baseFeature = availableFeatures.FirstOrDefault(fd => fd.Id == themeExtension.BaseTheme);
+                    if (baseFeature == null) {
+                        Logger.Error("Base theme '{0}' of theme '{1}' not found in list of features", themeExtension.BaseTheme, themeExtension.Id);
+                        break;
+                    }
+
+                    // Protect against potential infinite loop
+                    if (list.Contains(baseFeature.Extension)) {
+                        Logger.Error("Base theme '{0}' of theme '{1}' ignored, as it seems there is recursion in base themes", themeExtension.BaseTheme, themeExtension.Id);
+                        break;
+                    }
+
+                    list.Add(baseFeature.Extension);
+
+                    themeExtension = baseFeature.Extension;
+                }
+                return list;
+            }
+        }
+
         public void ReleaseView(ControllerContext controllerContext, IView view) {
             throw new NotImplementedException();
         }