diff --git a/src/backends/gr.jl b/src/backends/gr.jl
index 503172d5..7aee8768 100644
--- a/src/backends/gr.jl
+++ b/src/backends/gr.jl
@@ -260,19 +260,6 @@ function gr_fill_viewport(vp::AVec{Float64}, c)
     GR.restorestate()
 end
 
-
-normalize_zvals(args...) = nothing
-function normalize_zvals(zv::AVec, clims::NTuple{2, <:Real})
-    vmin, vmax = ignorenan_extrema(zv)
-    isfinite(clims[1]) && (vmin = clims[1])
-    isfinite(clims[2]) && (vmax = clims[2])
-    if vmin == vmax
-        zeros(length(zv))
-    else
-        clamp.((zv .- vmin) ./ (vmax .- vmin), 0, 1)
-    end
-end
-
 # ---------------------------------------------------------
 
 # draw ONE Shape
@@ -920,8 +907,6 @@ function gr_display(sp::Subplot{GRBackend}, w, h, viewport_canvas)
     # reduced from before... set some flags based on the series in this subplot
     # TODO: can these be generic flags?
     outside_ticks = false
-    # calculate the colorbar limits once for a subplot
-    clims = get_clims(sp)
     cbar = GRColorbar()
 
     draw_axes = sp[:framestyle] != :none
@@ -1234,6 +1219,8 @@ function gr_display(sp::Subplot{GRBackend}, w, h, viewport_canvas)
         x, y, z = series[:x], series[:y], series[:z]
         frng = series[:fillrange]
 
+        clims = get_clims(sp, series)
+
         # add custom frame shapes to markershape?
         series_annotations_shapes!(series)
         # -------------------------------------------------------
@@ -1470,7 +1457,7 @@ function gr_display(sp::Subplot{GRBackend}, w, h, viewport_canvas)
     end
 
     # draw the colorbar
-    hascolorbar(sp) && gr_draw_colorbar(cbar, sp, clims)
+    hascolorbar(sp) && gr_draw_colorbar(cbar, sp, get_clims(sp))
 
     # add the legend
     if sp[:legend] != :none
@@ -1498,6 +1485,7 @@ function gr_display(sp::Subplot{GRBackend}, w, h, viewport_canvas)
                 gr_set_font(legendfont(sp))
             end
             for series in series_list(sp)
+                clims = get_clims(sp, series)
                 should_add_to_legend(series) || continue
                 st = series[:seriestype]
                 lc = get_linecolor(series, clims)
diff --git a/src/backends/plotly.jl b/src/backends/plotly.jl
index 4a604889..4fcb334f 100644
--- a/src/backends/plotly.jl
+++ b/src/backends/plotly.jl
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@ function plotly_series(plt::Plot, series::Series)
     st = series[:seriestype]
 
     sp = series[:subplot]
-    clims = get_clims(sp)
+    clims = get_clims(sp, series)
 
     if st == :shape
         return plotly_series_shapes(plt, series, clims)
diff --git a/src/backends/pyplot.jl b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
index 27ce9a4c..0b36999b 100644
--- a/src/backends/pyplot.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
@@ -399,7 +399,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
 
     # handle zcolor and get c/cmap
     needs_colorbar = hascolorbar(sp)
-    vmin, vmax = clims = get_clims(sp)
+    vmin, vmax = clims = get_clims(sp, series)
 
     # Dict to store extra kwargs
     if st == :wireframe
@@ -1290,13 +1290,13 @@ py_legend_bbox(pos) = pos
 
 function py_add_legend(plt::Plot, sp::Subplot, ax)
     leg = sp[:legend]
-    clims = get_clims(sp)
     if leg != :none
         # gotta do this to ensure both axes are included
         labels = []
         handles = []
         for series in series_list(sp)
             if should_add_to_legend(series)
+                clims = get_clims(sp, series)
                 # add a line/marker and a label
                 push!(handles, if series[:seriestype] == :shape || series[:fillrange] !== nothing
                     pypatches."Patch"(
diff --git a/src/utils.jl b/src/utils.jl
index bf478958..0c2b4b80 100644
--- a/src/utils.jl
+++ b/src/utils.jl
@@ -523,14 +523,9 @@ zlims(sp_idx::Int = 1) = zlims(current(), sp_idx)
 
 function get_clims(sp::Subplot)
     zmin, zmax = Inf, -Inf
-    z_colored_series = (:contour, :contour3d, :heatmap, :histogram2d, :surface)
     for series in series_list(sp)
-        for vals in (series[:seriestype] in z_colored_series ? series[:z] : nothing, series[:line_z], series[:marker_z], series[:fill_z])
-            if (typeof(vals) <: AbstractSurface) && (eltype(vals.surf) <: Union{Missing, Real})
-                zmin, zmax = _update_clims(zmin, zmax, ignorenan_extrema(vals.surf)...)
-            elseif (vals !== nothing) && (eltype(vals) <: Union{Missing, Real})
-                zmin, zmax = _update_clims(zmin, zmax, ignorenan_extrema(vals)...)
-            end
+        if series[:colorbar_entry]
+            zmin, zmax = _update_clims(zmin, zmax, get_clims(series)...)
         end
     end
     clims = sp[:clims]
@@ -541,6 +536,33 @@ function get_clims(sp::Subplot)
     return zmin < zmax ? (zmin, zmax) : (-0.1, 0.1)
 end
 
+function get_clims(sp::Subplot, series::Series)
+    zmin, zmax = if series[:colorbar_entry]
+        get_clims(sp)
+    else
+        get_clims(series)
+    end
+    clims = sp[:clims]
+    if is_2tuple(clims)
+        isfinite(clims[1]) && (zmin = clims[1])
+        isfinite(clims[2]) && (zmax = clims[2])
+    end
+    return zmin < zmax ? (zmin, zmax) : (-0.1, 0.1)
+end
+
+function get_clims(series::Series)
+    zmin, zmax = Inf, -Inf
+    z_colored_series = (:contour, :contour3d, :heatmap, :histogram2d, :surface)
+    for vals in (series[:seriestype] in z_colored_series ? series[:z] : nothing, series[:line_z], series[:marker_z], series[:fill_z])
+        if (typeof(vals) <: AbstractSurface) && (eltype(vals.surf) <: Union{Missing, Real})
+            zmin, zmax = _update_clims(zmin, zmax, ignorenan_extrema(vals.surf)...)
+        elseif (vals !== nothing) && (eltype(vals) <: Union{Missing, Real})
+            zmin, zmax = _update_clims(zmin, zmax, ignorenan_extrema(vals)...)
+        end
+    end
+    return zmin < zmax ? (zmin, zmax) : (-0.1, 0.1)
+end
+
 _update_clims(zmin, zmax, emin, emax) = min(zmin, emin), max(zmax, emax)
 
 @enum ColorbarStyle cbar_gradient cbar_fill cbar_lines