diff --git a/kitty/cleanup.c b/kitty/cleanup.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6f15fc21c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kitty/cleanup.c
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+/*
+ * cleanup.c
+ * Copyright (C) 2021 Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+ *
+ * Distributed under terms of the GPL3 license.
+ */
+
+#include "cleanup.h"
+
+
+kitty_cleanup_at_exit_func exit_funcs[NUM_CLEANUP_FUNCS] = {0};
+
+void
+register_at_exit_cleanup_func(AtExitCleanupFunc which, kitty_cleanup_at_exit_func func) {
+    if (which < NUM_CLEANUP_FUNCS) exit_funcs[which] = func;
+}
+
+void
+run_at_exit_cleanup_functions(void) {
+    for (unsigned i = 0; i < NUM_CLEANUP_FUNCS; i++) {
+        if (exit_funcs[i]) exit_funcs[i]();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/kitty/cleanup.h b/kitty/cleanup.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e39bde86c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kitty/cleanup.h
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2021 Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+ *
+ * Distributed under terms of the GPL3 license.
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+
+typedef void (*kitty_cleanup_at_exit_func)(void);
+
+typedef enum {
+    STATE_CLEANUP_FUNC,
+    GLFW_CLEANUP_FUNC,
+    DESKTOP_CLEANUP_FUNC,
+    FREETYPE_CLEANUP_FUNC,
+    CORE_TEXT_CLEANUP_FUNC,
+    COCOA_CLEANUP_FUNC,
+    PNG_READER_CLEANUP_FUNC,
+    FONTCONFIG_CLEANUP_FUNC,
+
+    NUM_CLEANUP_FUNCS
+} AtExitCleanupFunc;
+
+void register_at_exit_cleanup_func(AtExitCleanupFunc which, kitty_cleanup_at_exit_func func);
+void run_at_exit_cleanup_functions(void);
diff --git a/kitty/cocoa_window.m b/kitty/cocoa_window.m
index 6aa1888dd..4c2bde9cf 100644
--- a/kitty/cocoa_window.m
+++ b/kitty/cocoa_window.m
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 
 #include "state.h"
+#include "cleanup.h"
 #include "monotonic.h"
 #include <Cocoa/Cocoa.h>
 #ifndef KITTY_USE_DEPRECATED_MACOS_NOTIFICATION_API
@@ -656,9 +657,6 @@ bool
 init_cocoa(PyObject *module) {
     memset(&global_shortcuts, 0, sizeof(global_shortcuts));
     if (PyModule_AddFunctions(module, module_methods) != 0) return false;
-    if (Py_AtExit(cleanup) != 0) {
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, "Failed to register the cocoa_window at exit handler");
-        return false;
-    }
+    register_at_exit_cleanup_func(COCOA_CLEANUP_FUNC, cleanup);
     return true;
 }
diff --git a/kitty/core_text.m b/kitty/core_text.m
index b27284f82..b3065f621 100644
--- a/kitty/core_text.m
+++ b/kitty/core_text.m
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "state.h"
+#include "cleanup.h"
 #include "fonts.h"
 #include "unicode-data.h"
 #include <structmember.h>
@@ -608,10 +609,7 @@ init_CoreText(PyObject *module) {
     if (PyType_Ready(&CTFace_Type) < 0) return 0;
     if (PyModule_AddObject(module, "CTFace", (PyObject *)&CTFace_Type) != 0) return 0;
     if (PyModule_AddFunctions(module, module_methods) != 0) return 0;
-    if (Py_AtExit(finalize) != 0) {
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, "Failed to register the CoreText at exit handler");
-        return false;
-    }
+    register_at_exit_cleanup_func(CORE_TEXT_CLEANUP_FUNC, finalize);
     return 1;
 }
 
diff --git a/kitty/data-types.c b/kitty/data-types.c
index 2e7f4ae92..498411099 100644
--- a/kitty/data-types.c
+++ b/kitty/data-types.c
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #undef _DARWIN_C_SOURCE
 #endif
 #include "data-types.h"
+#include "cleanup.h"
 #include "safe-wrappers.h"
 #include "control-codes.h"
 #include "wcwidth-std.h"
@@ -226,6 +227,10 @@ PyInit_fast_data_types(void) {
 
     m = PyModule_Create(&module);
     if (m == NULL) return NULL;
+    if (Py_AtExit(run_at_exit_cleanup_functions) != 0) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, "Failed to register the atexit cleanup handler");
+        return NULL;
+    }
     init_monotonic();
 
     if (!init_logging(m)) return NULL;
@@ -237,6 +242,7 @@ PyInit_fast_data_types(void) {
     if (!init_child_monitor(m)) return NULL;
     if (!init_ColorProfile(m)) return NULL;
     if (!init_Screen(m)) return NULL;
+    if (!init_glfw(m)) return NULL;
     if (!init_child(m)) return NULL;
     if (!init_state(m)) return NULL;
     if (!init_keys(m)) return NULL;
@@ -256,7 +262,6 @@ PyInit_fast_data_types(void) {
     if (!init_freetype_render_ui_text(m)) return NULL;
 #endif
     if (!init_fonts(m)) return NULL;
-    if (!init_glfw(m)) return NULL;
 
     PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "BOLD", BOLD_SHIFT);
     PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "ITALIC", ITALIC_SHIFT);
diff --git a/kitty/desktop.c b/kitty/desktop.c
index b3d5625a2..9fea4bfa0 100644
--- a/kitty/desktop.c
+++ b/kitty/desktop.c
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "data-types.h"
+#include "cleanup.h"
 #include <dlfcn.h>
 
 #define FUNC(name, restype, ...) typedef restype (*name##_func)(__VA_ARGS__); static name##_func name = NULL
@@ -174,9 +175,6 @@ finalize(void) {
 bool
 init_desktop(PyObject *m) {
     if (PyModule_AddFunctions(m, module_methods) != 0) return false;
-    if (Py_AtExit(finalize) != 0) {
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, "Failed to register the desktop.c at exit handler");
-        return false;
-    }
+    register_at_exit_cleanup_func(DESKTOP_CLEANUP_FUNC, finalize);
     return true;
 }
diff --git a/kitty/fontconfig.c b/kitty/fontconfig.c
index a5ccf68b0..3826f820c 100644
--- a/kitty/fontconfig.c
+++ b/kitty/fontconfig.c
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "state.h"
+#include "cleanup.h"
 #include "lineops.h"
 #include "fonts.h"
 #include <fontconfig/fontconfig.h>
@@ -339,10 +340,7 @@ init_fontconfig_library(PyObject *module) {
         PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, "Failed to initialize the fontconfig library");
         return false;
     }
-    if (Py_AtExit(FcFini) != 0) {
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, "Failed to register the fontconfig library at exit handler");
-        return false;
-    }
+    register_at_exit_cleanup_func(FONTCONFIG_CLEANUP_FUNC, FcFini);
     if (PyModule_AddFunctions(module, module_methods) != 0) return false;
     PyModule_AddIntMacro(module, FC_WEIGHT_REGULAR);
     PyModule_AddIntMacro(module, FC_WEIGHT_MEDIUM);
diff --git a/kitty/freetype.c b/kitty/freetype.c
index d7b47531b..260f8ce6c 100644
--- a/kitty/freetype.c
+++ b/kitty/freetype.c
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "fonts.h"
+#include "cleanup.h"
 #include "state.h"
 #include <math.h>
 #include <structmember.h>
@@ -737,10 +738,7 @@ init_freetype_library(PyObject *m) {
         set_freetype_error("Failed to initialize FreeType library, with error:", error);
         return false;
     }
-    if (Py_AtExit(free_freetype) != 0) {
-        PyErr_SetString(FreeType_Exception, "Failed to register the freetype library at exit handler");
-        return false;
-    }
+    register_at_exit_cleanup_func(FREETYPE_CLEANUP_FUNC, free_freetype);
     return true;
 }
 
diff --git a/kitty/glfw.c b/kitty/glfw.c
index 4d2587149..7ec46f6ac 100644
--- a/kitty/glfw.c
+++ b/kitty/glfw.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "state.h"
+#include "cleanup.h"
 #include "fonts.h"
 #include "monotonic.h"
 #include "charsets.h"
@@ -1426,10 +1427,7 @@ void cleanup_glfw(void) {
 bool
 init_glfw(PyObject *m) {
     if (PyModule_AddFunctions(m, module_methods) != 0) return false;
-    if (Py_AtExit(cleanup_glfw) != 0) {
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, "Failed to register the glfw exit handler");
-        return false;
-    }
+    register_at_exit_cleanup_func(GLFW_CLEANUP_FUNC, cleanup_glfw);
 #define ADDC(n) if(PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, #n, n) != 0) return false;
     ADDC(GLFW_RELEASE);
     ADDC(GLFW_PRESS);
diff --git a/kitty/png-reader.c b/kitty/png-reader.c
index 9bfaf6cfc..13bf7db6b 100644
--- a/kitty/png-reader.c
+++ b/kitty/png-reader.c
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "png-reader.h"
+#include "cleanup.h"
 #include "state.h"
 #include <lcms2.h>
 
@@ -167,10 +168,6 @@ unload(void) {
 bool
 init_png_reader(PyObject *module) {
     if (PyModule_AddFunctions(module, module_methods) != 0) return false;
-    if (Py_AtExit(unload) != 0) {
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, "Failed to register the PNG library at exit handler");
-        return false;
-    }
-
+    register_at_exit_cleanup_func(PNG_READER_CLEANUP_FUNC, unload);
     return true;
 }
diff --git a/kitty/state.c b/kitty/state.c
index 97c56ba95..8d7800ee0 100644
--- a/kitty/state.c
+++ b/kitty/state.c
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "state.h"
+#include "cleanup.h"
 #include <math.h>
 
 GlobalState global_state = {{0}};
@@ -1251,10 +1252,7 @@ init_state(PyObject *module) {
     PyModule_AddIntConstant(module, "IMPERATIVE_CLOSE_REQUESTED", IMPERATIVE_CLOSE_REQUESTED);
     PyModule_AddIntConstant(module, "NO_CLOSE_REQUESTED", NO_CLOSE_REQUESTED);
     PyModule_AddIntConstant(module, "CLOSE_BEING_CONFIRMED", CLOSE_BEING_CONFIRMED);
-    if (Py_AtExit(finalize) != 0) {
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, "Failed to register the state at exit handler");
-        return false;
-    }
+    register_at_exit_cleanup_func(STATE_CLEANUP_FUNC, finalize);
     return true;
 }
 // }}}