diff --git a/WINGs/Makefile.am b/WINGs/Makefile.am
index e70988de..863ba791 100644
--- a/WINGs/Makefile.am
+++ b/WINGs/Makefile.am
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ libWUtil_la_SOURCES = 	\
 	string.c \
 	tree.c \
 	userdefaults.c \
+	userdefaults.h \
 	usleep.c \
 	wapplication.c \
 	wconfig.h \
diff --git a/WINGs/userdefaults.c b/WINGs/userdefaults.c
index 160a08b6..876371d8 100644
--- a/WINGs/userdefaults.c
+++ b/WINGs/userdefaults.c
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@
 #include "wconfig.h"
 
 #include "WINGs.h"
+#include "WINGsP.h"
+#include "userdefaults.h"
+
 
 typedef struct W_UserDefaults {
 	WMPropList *defaults;
@@ -114,9 +117,19 @@ char *wglobaldefaultspathfordomain(const char *domain)
 	return t;
 }
 
-static void
-saveDefaultsChanges(void)
+void w_save_defaults_changes(void)
 {
+	if (WMApplication.applicationName == NULL) {
+		/*
+		 * This means that the user has properly exited by calling the
+		 * function 'WMReleaseApplication' (which has already called us)
+		 * but we're being called again by the fallback 'atexit' method
+		 * (the legacy way of saving changes on exit which is kept for
+		 * application that would forget to call 'WMReleaseApplication')
+		 */
+		return;
+	}
+
 	/* save the user defaults databases */
 	synchronizeUserDefaults(NULL);
 }
@@ -127,7 +140,7 @@ static void registerSaveOnExit(void)
 	static Bool registeredSaveOnExit = False;
 
 	if (!registeredSaveOnExit) {
-		atexit(saveDefaultsChanges);
+		atexit(w_save_defaults_changes);
 		registeredSaveOnExit = True;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/WINGs/userdefaults.h b/WINGs/userdefaults.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3e4b46bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/WINGs/userdefaults.h
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/* WUtil / userdefaults.h
+ *
+ *  Copyright (c) 2014 Window Maker Team
+ *
+ *  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ *  (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *  GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+ *  with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ *  51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ */
+
+#ifndef WUTIL_USERDEFAULTS_H
+#define WUTIL_USERDEFAULTS_H
+
+/*
+ * This file is not part of WUtil public API
+ *
+ * It defines internal things for the user configuration handling functions
+ */
+
+
+/* Save user configuration, to be used when application exits only */
+void w_save_defaults_changes(void);
+
+
+#endif /* WUTIL_USERDEFAULTS_H */
diff --git a/WINGs/wapplication.c b/WINGs/wapplication.c
index beca03d9..1478ced9 100644
--- a/WINGs/wapplication.c
+++ b/WINGs/wapplication.c
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 #include "WINGsP.h"
 #include "wconfig.h"
+#include "userdefaults.h"
 
 
 struct W_Application WMApplication;
@@ -51,6 +52,14 @@ void WMInitializeApplication(const char *applicationName, int *argc, char **argv
 void WMReleaseApplication(void) {
 	int i;
 
+	/*
+	 * We save the configuration on exit, this used to be handled
+	 * through an 'atexit' registered function but if application
+	 * properly calls WMReleaseApplication then the info to that
+	 * will have been freed by us.
+	 */
+	w_save_defaults_changes();
+
 	W_ReleaseNotificationCenter();
 
 	if (WMApplication.applicationName)