diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 516adbf..1b0453c 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ raw-window-handle = "0.3.3"
 [target.'cfg(target_os="linux")'.dependencies]
 xcb = { version = "0.9", features = ["thread", "xlib_xcb", "dri2"] }
 x11 = { version = "2.18", features = ["xlib"] }
+xcb-util = { version = "0.3", features = ["icccm"] }
 libc = "0.2"
 nix = "0.18"
 
diff --git a/examples/open_window.rs b/examples/open_window.rs
index 2f22de9..107d79a 100644
--- a/examples/open_window.rs
+++ b/examples/open_window.rs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ impl WindowHandler for MyProgram {
 
     fn on_frame(&mut self) {}
 
-    fn on_event(&mut self, _window: &mut Window, event: Event) {
+    fn on_event(&mut self, window: &mut Window, event: Event) {
         match event {
             Event::CursorMotion(x, y) => {
                 println!("Cursor moved, x: {}, y: {}", x, y);
diff --git a/src/x11/window.rs b/src/x11/window.rs
index 1553c34..9950cd2 100644
--- a/src/x11/window.rs
+++ b/src/x11/window.rs
@@ -89,6 +89,17 @@ impl Window {
             title.as_bytes(),
         );
 
+        xcb_connection.atoms.wm_protocols
+            .zip(xcb_connection.atoms.wm_delete_window)
+            .map(|(wm_protocols, wm_delete_window)| {
+                xcb_util::icccm::set_wm_protocols(
+                    &xcb_connection.conn,
+                    window_id,
+                    wm_protocols,
+                    &[wm_delete_window]
+                );
+            });
+
         xcb_connection.conn.flush();
 
         let scaling = xcb_connection.get_scaling().unwrap_or(1.0);
@@ -187,9 +198,35 @@ impl Window {
         //   http://rtbo.github.io/rust-xcb/src/xcb/ffi/xproto.rs.html#445
 
         match event_type {
+            ////
+            // keys
+            ////
+
             xcb::EXPOSE => {
                 handler.on_frame();
             }
+
+            xcb::CLIENT_MESSAGE => {
+                let event = unsafe { xcb::cast_event::<xcb::ClientMessageEvent>(&event) };
+
+                // what an absolute trajedy this all is
+                let data = event.data().data;
+                let (_, data32, _) = unsafe { data.align_to::<u32>() };
+
+                let wm_delete_window = self.xcb_connection.atoms.wm_delete_window.unwrap_or(xcb::NONE);
+
+                if wm_delete_window == data32[0] {
+                    handler.on_event(self, Event::WillClose);
+
+                    // FIXME: handler should decide whether window stays open or not
+                    self.event_loop_running = false;
+                }
+            }
+
+            ////
+            // mouse
+            ////
+
             xcb::MOTION_NOTIFY => {
                 let event = unsafe { xcb::cast_event::<xcb::MotionNotifyEvent>(&event) };
                 let detail = event.detail();
@@ -201,6 +238,7 @@ impl Window {
                     );
                 }
             }
+
             xcb::BUTTON_PRESS => {
                 let event = unsafe { xcb::cast_event::<xcb::ButtonPressEvent>(&event) };
                 let detail = event.detail();
@@ -230,6 +268,7 @@ impl Window {
                     }
                 }
             }
+
             xcb::BUTTON_RELEASE => {
                 let event = unsafe { xcb::cast_event::<xcb::ButtonPressEvent>(&event) };
                 let detail = event.detail();
@@ -239,18 +278,25 @@ impl Window {
                     handler.on_event(self, Event::MouseUp(button_id));
                 }
             }
+
+            ////
+            // keys
+            ////
+
             xcb::KEY_PRESS => {
                 let event = unsafe { xcb::cast_event::<xcb::KeyPressEvent>(&event) };
                 let detail = event.detail();
 
                 handler.on_event(self, Event::KeyDown(detail));
             }
+
             xcb::KEY_RELEASE => {
                 let event = unsafe { xcb::cast_event::<xcb::KeyReleaseEvent>(&event) };
                 let detail = event.detail();
 
                 handler.on_event(self, Event::KeyUp(detail));
             }
+
             _ => {
                 println!("Unhandled event type: {:?}", event_type);
             }
diff --git a/src/x11/xcb_connection.rs b/src/x11/xcb_connection.rs
index f4bab15..ec6fd60 100644
--- a/src/x11/xcb_connection.rs
+++ b/src/x11/xcb_connection.rs
@@ -7,19 +7,54 @@ use std::ffi::{
     CStr
 };
 
+pub(crate) struct Atoms {
+    pub wm_protocols: Option<u32>,
+    pub wm_delete_window: Option<u32>
+}
+
 pub struct XcbConnection {
     pub conn: xcb::Connection,
     pub xlib_display: i32,
+
+    pub(crate) atoms: Atoms
 }
 
+macro_rules! intern_atoms {
+    ($conn:expr, $( $name:ident ),+ ) => {{
+        $(
+            #[allow(non_snake_case)]
+            let $name = xcb::intern_atom($conn, true, stringify!($name));
+        )+
+
+        // splitting request and reply to improve throughput
+
+        (
+            $( $name.get_reply()
+                .map(|r| r.atom())
+                .ok()),+
+        )
+    }};
+}
+
+
 impl XcbConnection {
     pub fn new() -> Result<Self, xcb::base::ConnError> {
-        xcb::Connection::connect_with_xlib_display()
-            .map(|(conn, xlib_display)|
-                Self {
-                    conn,
-                    xlib_display
-                })
+        let (conn, xlib_display) = xcb::Connection::connect_with_xlib_display()?;
+
+        let (wm_protocols, wm_delete_window) =
+            intern_atoms!(&conn,
+                WM_PROTOCOLS,
+                WM_DELETE_WINDOW);
+
+        Ok(Self {
+            conn,
+            xlib_display,
+
+            atoms: Atoms {
+                wm_protocols,
+                wm_delete_window
+            }
+        })
     }
 
     // Try to get the scaling with this function first.