diff --git a/module/VuFindTheme/src/VuFindTheme/Initializer.php b/module/VuFindTheme/src/VuFindTheme/Initializer.php
index 33762b4a663..4409e4566f6 100644
--- a/module/VuFindTheme/src/VuFindTheme/Initializer.php
+++ b/module/VuFindTheme/src/VuFindTheme/Initializer.php
@@ -162,7 +162,8 @@ public function init()
         }
         self::$themeInitialized = true;
 
-        // Determine the current theme:
+        // Determine the current theme (this sets the ui cookie as a side effect,
+        // which we will need to use in the line below):
         $currentTheme = $this->pickTheme(
             isset($this->event) ? $this->event->getRequest() : null
         );
@@ -277,18 +278,18 @@ protected function pickTheme(?Request $request)
     /**
      * Make the theme options available to the view.
      *
-     * @param string $currentTheme Active theme
+     * @param string $activeThemeOption Active theme option (ui cookie, not actual theme name)
      *
      * @return void
      */
-    protected function sendThemeOptionsToView($currentTheme)
+    protected function sendThemeOptionsToView($activeThemeOption)
     {
         // Get access to the view model:
         if (PHP_SAPI !== 'cli') {
             $viewModel = $this->serviceManager->get('ViewManager')->getViewModel();
 
             // Send down the view options:
-            $viewModel->setVariable('themeOptions', $this->getThemeOptions($currentTheme));
+            $viewModel->setVariable('themeOptions', $this->getThemeOptions($activeThemeOption));
         }
     }
 
@@ -296,11 +297,11 @@ protected function sendThemeOptionsToView($currentTheme)
      * Return an array of information about user-selectable themes. Each entry in
      * the array is an associative array with 'name', 'desc' and 'selected' keys.
      *
-     * @param string $currentTheme Active theme
+     * @param string $activeThemeOption Active theme (ui cookie, not actual theme name)
      *
      * @return array
      */
-    protected function getThemeOptions($currentTheme)
+    protected function getThemeOptions($activeThemeOption)
     {
         $options = [];
         if (isset($this->config->selectable_themes)) {
@@ -313,7 +314,7 @@ protected function getThemeOptions($currentTheme)
                 if (!empty($name)) {
                     $options[] = [
                         'name' => $name, 'desc' => $desc,
-                        'selected' => ($currentTheme == $name),
+                        'selected' => ($activeThemeOption == $name),
                     ];
                 }
             }