diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/DictionaryExtensions.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/DictionaryExtensions.cs
index de12e0b3b1..194b461fd5 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/DictionaryExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/DictionaryExtensions.cs
@@ -131,30 +131,48 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core
 			return n;
 		}
 
-		/// <summary>
-		/// Returns a new dictionary of this ... others merged leftward.
-		/// </summary>
-		/// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
-		/// <typeparam name="TK"></typeparam>
-		/// <typeparam name="TV"></typeparam>
-		/// <param name="me"></param>
-		/// <param name="others"></param>
-		/// <returns></returns>
-		/// <remarks>
-		/// Reference: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/294138/merging-dictionaries-in-c
-		/// </remarks>
-		public static T MergeLeft<T, TK, TV>(this T me, params IDictionary<TK, TV>[] others)
-			where T : IDictionary<TK, TV>, new()
-		{
-			var newMap = new T();
-			foreach (var p in (new List<IDictionary<TK, TV>> { me }).Concat(others).SelectMany(src => src))
-			{
-				newMap[p.Key] = p.Value;
-			}
-			return newMap;
-		}
+	    /// <summary>
+	    /// Merges all key/values from the sources dictionaries into the destination dictionary
+	    /// </summary>
+	    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
+	    /// <typeparam name="TK"></typeparam>
+	    /// <typeparam name="TV"></typeparam>
+	    /// <param name="destination">The source dictionary to merge other dictionaries into</param>
+	    /// <param name="overwrite">
+	    /// By default all values will be retained in the destination if the same keys exist in the sources but 
+	    /// this can changed if overwrite = true, then any key/value found in any of the sources will overwritten in the destination. Note that
+	    /// it will just use the last found key/value if this is true.
+	    /// </param>
+	    /// <param name="sources">The other dictionaries to merge values from</param>
+        public static void MergeLeft<T, TK, TV>(this T destination, IEnumerable<IDictionary<TK, TV>> sources, bool overwrite = false)
+			where T : IDictionary<TK, TV>
+	    {
+	        foreach (var p in sources.SelectMany(src => src).Where(p => overwrite || destination.ContainsKey(p.Key) == false))
+	        {
+	            destination[p.Key] = p.Value;
+	        }
+	    }
 
-		/// <summary>
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Merges all key/values from the sources dictionaries into the destination dictionary
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
+        /// <typeparam name="TK"></typeparam>
+        /// <typeparam name="TV"></typeparam>
+        /// <param name="destination">The source dictionary to merge other dictionaries into</param>
+        /// <param name="overwrite">
+        /// By default all values will be retained in the destination if the same keys exist in the sources but 
+        /// this can changed if overwrite = true, then any key/value found in any of the sources will overwritten in the destination. Note that
+        /// it will just use the last found key/value if this is true.
+        /// </param>
+        /// <param name="source">The other dictionary to merge values from</param>
+        public static void MergeLeft<T, TK, TV>(this T destination, IDictionary<TK, TV> source, bool overwrite = false)
+            where T : IDictionary<TK, TV>
+        {
+            destination.MergeLeft(new[] {source}, overwrite);
+        }
+
+	    /// <summary>
 		/// Returns the value of the key value based on the key, if the key is not found, a null value is returned
 		/// </summary>
 		/// <typeparam name="TKey">The type of the key.</typeparam>
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Mvc/ViewDataDictionaryExtensionTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Mvc/ViewDataDictionaryExtensionTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2f35aede2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Mvc/ViewDataDictionaryExtensionTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Web.Mvc;
+using NUnit.Framework;
+using Umbraco.Web.Mvc;
+
+namespace Umbraco.Tests.Mvc
+{
+    [TestFixture]
+    public class ViewDataDictionaryExtensionTests
+    {
+        [Test]
+        public void Merge_View_Data()
+        {
+            var source = new ViewDataDictionary();
+            var dest = new ViewDataDictionary();
+            source.Add("Test1", "Test1");
+            dest.Add("Test2", "Test2");
+
+            dest.MergeViewDataFrom(source);
+
+            Assert.AreEqual(2, dest.Count);
+        }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void Merge_View_Data_Retains_Destination_Values()
+        {
+            var source = new ViewDataDictionary();
+            var dest = new ViewDataDictionary();
+            source.Add("Test1", "Test1");
+            dest.Add("Test1", "MyValue");
+            dest.Add("Test2", "Test2");
+
+            dest.MergeViewDataFrom(source);
+
+            Assert.AreEqual(2, dest.Count);
+            Assert.AreEqual("MyValue", dest["Test1"]);
+            Assert.AreEqual("Test2", dest["Test2"]);
+        }
+
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Umbraco.Tests.csproj b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Umbraco.Tests.csproj
index 0d2d690a46..d8fae9ebac 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Umbraco.Tests.csproj
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Umbraco.Tests.csproj
@@ -187,6 +187,7 @@
     <Compile Include="Integration\CreateContent.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\ContentExtensionsTests.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\DataValueSetterTests.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Mvc\ViewDataDictionaryExtensionTests.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Persistence\PetaPocoExtensionsTest.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Persistence\Repositories\MemberRepositoryTest.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Persistence\Repositories\UserRepositoryTest.cs" />
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Macros/PartialViewMacroController.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Macros/PartialViewMacroController.cs
index 765846c5c5..b858d1c283 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Macros/PartialViewMacroController.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Macros/PartialViewMacroController.cs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Web.Mvc;
 using Umbraco.Web.Models;
+using Umbraco.Web.Mvc;
 using umbraco.cms.businesslogic.macro;
 using umbraco.interfaces;
 using System.Linq;
@@ -10,6 +11,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Macros
     /// <summary>
     /// Controller to render macro content for Parital View Macros
     /// </summary>
+    [MergeParentContextViewData]
     internal class PartialViewMacroController : Controller
     {
         private readonly UmbracoContext _umbracoContext;
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/MergeParentContextViewDataAttribute.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/MergeParentContextViewDataAttribute.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..219447d353
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/MergeParentContextViewDataAttribute.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+using System.Web.Mvc;
+
+namespace Umbraco.Web.Mvc
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// This attribute can be used for when child actions execute and will automatically merge in the viewdata from the parent context to the 
+    /// child action result.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// This will retain any custom viewdata put into the child viewdata if the same key persists in the parent context's view data. You can always still
+    /// access the parent's view data normally. 
+    /// This just simplifies working with ChildActions and view data.
+    /// 
+    /// NOTE: This does not mean that the parent context's view data will be merged before the action executes, if you need access to the parent context's view
+    /// data during controller execution you can access it normally.
+    /// </remarks>
+    public class MergeParentContextViewDataAttribute : ActionFilterAttribute
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Merge in the parent context's view data if this is a child action when the result is being executed
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="filterContext"></param>
+        public override void OnResultExecuting(ResultExecutingContext filterContext)
+        {
+            if (filterContext.IsChildAction)
+            {
+                if (filterContext.ParentActionViewContext != null && filterContext.ParentActionViewContext.ViewData != null)
+                {
+                    filterContext.Controller.ViewData.MergeViewDataFrom(filterContext.ParentActionViewContext.ViewData);
+                }
+            }
+
+            base.OnResultExecuting(filterContext);
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/SurfaceController.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/SurfaceController.cs
index 37cb38751a..23caa16619 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/SurfaceController.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/SurfaceController.cs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Mvc
     /// The base controller that all Presentation Add-in controllers should inherit from
     /// </summary>
     [MergeModelStateToChildAction]
+    [MergeParentContextViewData]
     public abstract class SurfaceController : PluginController
     {
 
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/ViewDataContainerExtensions.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/ViewDataContainerExtensions.cs
index 5e9ad89b9d..ef611e96c4 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/ViewDataContainerExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/ViewDataContainerExtensions.cs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ using System.Web.Mvc;
 
 namespace Umbraco.Web.Mvc
 {
-	internal static class ViewDataContainerExtensions
+    internal static class ViewDataContainerExtensions
 	{
 		private class ViewDataContainer : IViewDataContainer
 		{
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/ViewDataDictionaryExtensions.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/ViewDataDictionaryExtensions.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..930163bfe4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/ViewDataDictionaryExtensions.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+using System.Web.Mvc;
+using Umbraco.Core;
+
+namespace Umbraco.Web.Mvc
+{
+    internal static class ViewDataDictionaryExtensions
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Merges the source view data into the destination view data
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="destination"></param>
+        /// <param name="source"></param>
+        public static void MergeViewDataFrom(this ViewDataDictionary destination, ViewDataDictionary source)
+        {
+            destination.MergeLeft(source);
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Umbraco.Web.csproj b/src/Umbraco.Web/Umbraco.Web.csproj
index 249849013f..cddb3dc51f 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Umbraco.Web.csproj
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Umbraco.Web.csproj
@@ -299,6 +299,8 @@
     <Compile Include="Models\ProfileModel.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\LoginStatusModel.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\UmbracoProperty.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Mvc\MergeParentContextViewDataAttribute.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Mvc\ViewDataDictionaryExtensions.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Routing\ContentLastChanceFinderByNotFoundHandlers.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\RegisterModel.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\LoginModel.cs" />