diff --git a/examples/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/CMakeLists.txt
index f7657c86..c27c3154 100644
--- a/examples/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/examples/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ list(APPEND tests
     strings
     subroutine_contains_issue101
     type_bn
+    kind_map_default
 )
 
 foreach(test ${tests})
diff --git a/examples/Makefile b/examples/Makefile
index 844745f3..a3cac481 100644
--- a/examples/Makefile
+++ b/examples/Makefile
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ EXAMPLES = arrayderivedtypes \
 	type_check \
 	derivedtypes_procedure \
 	optional_string \
-	long_subroutine_name
+	long_subroutine_name \
+	kind_map_default
 
 PYTHON = python
 
diff --git a/examples/kind_map_default/Makefile b/examples/kind_map_default/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..89afd4f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/kind_map_default/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+#=======================================================================
+#                   define the compiler names
+#=======================================================================
+
+CC          = gcc
+F90         = gfortran
+PYTHON      = python
+CFLAGS      = -fPIC
+F90FLAGS    = -fPIC
+PY_MOD      = pywrapper
+F90_SRC     = main.f90
+OBJ         = $(F90_SRC:.f90=.o)
+F90WRAP_SRC = $(addprefix f90wrap_,${F90_SRC})
+WRAPFLAGS   = -v --kind-map kind.map
+F2PYFLAGS   = --build-dir build
+F90WRAP     = f90wrap
+F2PY        = f2py-f90wrap
+.PHONY: all clean
+
+all: test
+
+clean:
+	rm -rf *.mod *.smod *.o f90wrap*.f90 ${PY_MOD}.py _${PY_MOD}*.so __pycache__/ .f2py_f2cmap build ${PY_MOD}/
+
+main.o: ${F90_SRC}
+	${F90} ${F90FLAGS} -c $< -o $@
+
+%.o: %.f90
+	${F90} ${F90FLAGS} -c $< -o $@
+
+${F90WRAP_SRC}: ${OBJ}
+	${F90WRAP} -m ${PY_MOD} ${WRAPFLAGS} ${F90_SRC}
+
+f2py: ${F90WRAP_SRC}
+	CFLAGS="${CFLAGS}" ${F2PY} -c -m _${PY_MOD} ${F2PYFLAGS} f90wrap_*.f90 *.o
+
+test: f2py
+	${PYTHON} tests.py
diff --git a/examples/kind_map_default/Makefile.meson b/examples/kind_map_default/Makefile.meson
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2ee0bd57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/kind_map_default/Makefile.meson
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+include ../make.meson.inc
+
+NAME     := pywrapper
+WRAPFLAGS += --kind-map kind.map
+
+test: build
+	$(PYTHON) tests.py
diff --git a/examples/kind_map_default/kind.map b/examples/kind_map_default/kind.map
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a737ae09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/kind_map_default/kind.map
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{\
+'real':{'8':'double'},\
+}
diff --git a/examples/kind_map_default/main.f90 b/examples/kind_map_default/main.f90
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d00557d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/kind_map_default/main.f90
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+program main
+
+end program
+
+module m_test
+
+  implicit none
+  public
+
+contains
+
+  function test_real(in_real) result(out_int)
+    real          :: in_real
+    integer       :: out_int
+    out_int = 1
+  end function test_real
+
+  function test_real4(in_real) result(out_int)
+    real(kind=4)  :: in_real
+    integer       :: out_int
+    out_int = 2
+  end function test_real4
+
+  function test_real8(in_real) result(out_int)
+    real(kind=8)  :: in_real
+    integer       :: out_int
+    out_int = 3
+  end function test_real8
+
+end module m_test
diff --git a/examples/kind_map_default/tests.py b/examples/kind_map_default/tests.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bc504a80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/kind_map_default/tests.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import unittest
+
+from pywrapper import m_test
+
+class TestKindMap(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def test_real(self):
+        _ = m_test.test_real(1.)
+
+    def test_real4(self):
+        _ = m_test.test_real4(2.)
+
+    def test_real8(self):
+        _ = m_test.test_real8(3.)
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()
diff --git a/f90wrap/fortran.py b/f90wrap/fortran.py
index 2449e223..ca0c9842 100644
--- a/f90wrap/fortran.py
+++ b/f90wrap/fortran.py
@@ -861,23 +861,22 @@ def f2c_type(typename, kind_map):
     type, kind = split_type_kind(typename)
     kind = kind.replace('(', '').replace(')', '')
 
-
-    if type in kind_map:
-        if kind in kind_map[type]:
-            c_type = kind_map[type][kind]
-        else:
-            raise RuntimeError('Unknown combination of type "%s" and kind "%s"' % (type, kind) +
-                               ' - add to kind map and try again')
-    else:
-        if type in default_f2c_type:
+    try:
+        c_type = kind_map[type][kind]
+    except KeyError:
+        try:
             c_type = default_f2c_type[type]
-        elif type.startswith('type'):
-            return 'type'
-        elif type.startswith('class'):
-            return 'type'
-        else:
-            raise RuntimeError('Unknown type "%s" - ' % type +
-                               'add to kind map and try again')
+        except KeyError:
+            if type.startswith('type') or type.startswith('class'):
+                c_type = 'type'
+            else:
+                if type in kind_map:
+                    raise RuntimeError('Unknown combination of type "%s" and kind "%s"' % (type, kind) +
+                                       ' - add to kind map and try again')
+                else:
+                    raise RuntimeError('Unknown type "%s" - ' % type +
+                                       'add to kind map and try again')
+
     return c_type