diff --git a/WINGs/Makefile.am b/WINGs/Makefile.am
index d28aff9b..3dac104a 100644
--- a/WINGs/Makefile.am
+++ b/WINGs/Makefile.am
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ libWUtil_la_SOURCES = 	\
 	bagtree.c \
 	data.c \
 	error.c \
+	error.h \
 	findfile.c \
 	handlers.c \
 	hashtable.c \
diff --git a/WINGs/WINGs/WUtil.h b/WINGs/WINGs/WUtil.h
index 246ef2d1..da74dfc3 100644
--- a/WINGs/WINGs/WUtil.h
+++ b/WINGs/WINGs/WUtil.h
@@ -305,10 +305,14 @@ char* wtrimspace(const char *s);
  */
 char *wshellquote(const char *s);
 
-/* ---[ WINGs/wmisc.c ]--------------------------------------------------- */
+/* ---[ WINGs/misc.c ]--------------------------------------------------- */
 
 WMRange wmkrange(int start, int count);
 
+/* An application must call this function before exiting, to let WUtil do some internal cleanup */
+void wutil_shutdown(void);
+
+
 /* ---[ WINGs/usleep.c ]-------------------------------------------------- */
 
 void wusleep(unsigned int usec);
diff --git a/WINGs/error.c b/WINGs/error.c
index 2d5a5881..e94c428b 100644
--- a/WINGs/error.c
+++ b/WINGs/error.c
@@ -30,6 +30,41 @@
 #include <WUtil.h>
 #include <WINGsP.h>
 
+#ifdef HAVE_SYSLOG_H
+#include <syslog.h>
+
+static Bool syslog_initialized = False;
+
+
+static void syslog_open(char *prog_name)
+{
+	int options;
+
+	if (!prog_name)
+		prog_name = "WINGs";
+
+	options = LOG_PID;
+	openlog(prog_name, options, LOG_DAEMON);
+	syslog_initialized = True;
+}
+
+static void syslog_message(int prio, char *prog_name, char *msg)
+{
+	if (!syslog_initialized)
+		syslog_open(prog_name);
+
+	//jump over the program name cause syslog is already displaying it
+	syslog(prio, "%s", msg + strlen(prog_name));
+}
+
+void w_syslog_close(void)
+{
+	if (syslog_initialized) {
+		closelog();
+		syslog_initialized = False;
+	}
+}
+#endif
 
 void __wmessage(const char *func, const char *file, int line, int type, const char *msg, ...)
 {
@@ -37,6 +72,10 @@ void __wmessage(const char *func, const char *file, int line, int type, const ch
 	char *buf;
 	static int linemax = 0;
 	int truncated = 0;
+#ifdef HAVE_SYSLOG
+	int syslog_priority = LOG_INFO;
+	const char *syslog_prefix = "INFO";
+#endif
 
 	if (linemax == 0) {
 #ifdef HAVE_SYSCONF
@@ -65,13 +104,25 @@ void __wmessage(const char *func, const char *file, int line, int type, const ch
 
 	switch (type) {
 		case WMESSAGE_TYPE_FATAL:
-			strncat(buf, _("fatal error: "), linemax - 1 - strlen(buf));
+			strncat(buf, _("fatal: "), linemax - 1 - strlen(buf));
+#ifdef HAVE_SYSLOG
+			syslog_priority = LOG_CRIT;
+			syslog_prefix = "FATAL";
+#endif
 		break;
 		case WMESSAGE_TYPE_ERROR:
 			strncat(buf, _("error: "), linemax - 1 - strlen(buf));
+#ifdef HAVE_SYSLOG
+			syslog_priority = LOG_ERR;
+			syslog_prefix = "ERROR";
+#endif
 		break;
 		case WMESSAGE_TYPE_WARNING:
 			strncat(buf, _("warning: "), linemax - 1 - strlen(buf));
+#ifdef HAVE_SYSLOG
+			syslog_priority = LOG_WARNING;
+			syslog_prefix = "WARNING";
+#endif
 		break;
 		case WMESSAGE_TYPE_MESSAGE:
 			/* FALLTHROUGH */
@@ -86,6 +137,9 @@ void __wmessage(const char *func, const char *file, int line, int type, const ch
 	va_end(args);
 
 	fputs(buf, stderr);
+#ifdef HAVE_SYSLOG
+	syslog_message(syslog_priority, _WINGS_progname ? _WINGS_progname : "WINGs", buf);
+#endif
 
 	if (truncated)
 		fputs("*** message truncated ***", stderr);
diff --git a/WINGs/error.h b/WINGs/error.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..341c9091
--- /dev/null
+++ b/WINGs/error.h
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/* WUtil / error.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_ERROR_H
+#define WUTIL_ERROR_H
+
+/*
+ * This file is not part of WUtil public API
+ *
+ * It defines internal things for the error message display functions
+ */
+
+
+#ifdef HAVE_SYSLOG_H
+/* Function to cleanly close the syslog stuff, called by wutil_shutdown from user side */
+void w_syslog_close(void);
+#endif
+
+
+#endif /* WUTIL_ERROR_H */
diff --git a/WINGs/misc.c b/WINGs/misc.c
index 48f281d3..f5a8c91c 100644
--- a/WINGs/misc.c
+++ b/WINGs/misc.c
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 
 #include "WINGsP.h"
 
+#include "error.h"
+
 WMRange wmkrange(int start, int count)
 {
 	WMRange range;
@@ -12,3 +14,13 @@ WMRange wmkrange(int start, int count)
 
 	return range;
 }
+
+/*
+ * wutil_shutdown - cleanup in WUtil when user program wants to exit
+ */
+void wutil_shutdown(void)
+{
+#ifdef HAVE_SYSLOG
+	w_syslog_close();
+#endif
+}
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index dbcc5577..91f368d9 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -293,6 +293,11 @@ dnl =================
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS(sys/inotify.h, AC_DEFINE(HAVE_INOTIFY, 1, Check for inotify))
 
 
+dnl Check for syslog 
+dnl =================
+AC_CHECK_HEADERS([syslog.h], [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_SYSLOG], [1], [Check for syslog])])
+
+
 dnl Checks for header files.
 dnl =======================
 AC_HEADER_SYS_WAIT
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 59a21f7a..a21290e5 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -201,6 +201,8 @@ noreturn void Exit(int status)
 	if (dpy)
 		XCloseDisplay(dpy);
 
+	wutil_shutdown();  /* WUtil clean-up */
+
 	exit(status);
 }