diff --git a/rtgui/rtimage.cc b/rtgui/rtimage.cc
index cc734456e..6a289ead6 100644
--- a/rtgui/rtimage.cc
+++ b/rtgui/rtimage.cc
@@ -120,6 +120,10 @@ void RTImage::changeImage (const Glib::ustring& imageName)
 {
     clear ();
 
+    if (imageName.empty()) {
+        return;
+    }
+
     if (pixbuf) {
         auto iterator = pixbufCache.find (imageName);
         assert(iterator != pixbufCache.end ());
@@ -169,6 +173,17 @@ void RTImage::init()
     scaleBack = RTScalable::getScale();
 }
 
+void RTImage::cleanup()
+{
+    for (auto& entry : pixbufCache) {
+        entry.second.reset();
+    }
+    for (auto& entry : surfaceCache) {
+        entry.second.clear();
+    }
+    RTScalable::cleanup();
+}
+
 void RTImage::updateImages()
 {
     for (auto& entry : pixbufCache) {
diff --git a/rtgui/rtimage.h b/rtgui/rtimage.h
index 481772ad6..5679f6edc 100644
--- a/rtgui/rtimage.h
+++ b/rtgui/rtimage.h
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ public:
 
 
     static void init();
+    static void cleanup();
     static void updateImages ();
     static void setDPInScale (const double newDPI, const int newScale);
     static void setScale (const int newScale);
diff --git a/rtgui/rtwindow.cc b/rtgui/rtwindow.cc
index 0d9017fbd..eb9ccf10c 100644
--- a/rtgui/rtwindow.cc
+++ b/rtgui/rtwindow.cc
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ RTWindow::~RTWindow()
         delete fpanel;
     }
 
-    RTScalable::cleanup();
+    RTImage::cleanup();
 }
 
 void RTWindow::on_realize ()