diff --git a/src/sgis/maps/explore.py b/src/sgis/maps/explore.py
index 71e0fe86..6e467850 100644
--- a/src/sgis/maps/explore.py
+++ b/src/sgis/maps/explore.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 clipmap functions from the 'maps' module.
 """
 import warnings
+import tempfile
 from statistics import mean
 
 import branca as bc
@@ -197,7 +198,9 @@ def _explore(self, **kwargs):
             self._create_continous_map()
 
         if self.browser:
-            run_html_server(self.map._repr_html_())
+            _, file_name = tempfile.mkstemp(suffix='.html')
+            self.map.save(file_name)
+            run_html_server(file_name)
         else:
             display(self.map)
 
diff --git a/src/sgis/maps/httpserver.py b/src/sgis/maps/httpserver.py
index 2379b5af..03c009ac 100644
--- a/src/sgis/maps/httpserver.py
+++ b/src/sgis/maps/httpserver.py
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 import os
 import webbrowser
+import shutil
 from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
 
 from IPython.core.display import HTML, display
 
 
-def run_html_server(contents: str | None = None, port: int = 3000):
+def run_html_server(contents_path: str | None = None, port: int = 3000):
     """
     Run a simple, temporary http web server for serving static HTML content.
     """
@@ -31,17 +32,20 @@ class HTTPServerRequestHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
         """
         A handler of request for the server, hosting static content.
         """
-
         def do_GET(self):
             """Handle GET requests."""
             self.send_response(200)
-            self.send_header("Content-type", "text/html")
+            fileSize = os.path.getsize(contents_path)
+            self.send_header("Content-Length", str(fileSize))
+            self.send_header('Content-type', 'text/html')
             self.end_headers()
-            if self.path == "/stop":
-                self.wfile.write(bytes("The server is stopped", encoding="utf-8"))
+            if self.path == '/stop':
+                self.wfile.write(bytes('The server is stopped', encoding='utf-8'))
+                os.remove(contents_path)
                 raise KeyboardInterrupt
             else:
-                self.wfile.write(bytes(contents, encoding="utf-8"))
+                with open(contents_path, 'rb') as contents:
+                    shutil.copyfileobj(contents, self.wfile)
 
     HTTPServerRequestHandler.allow_reuse_address = True