diff --git a/widgets/borderlayout.cpp b/widgets/borderlayout.cpp
index b9234f9db..9ed87b55c 100644
--- a/widgets/borderlayout.cpp
+++ b/widgets/borderlayout.cpp
@@ -167,7 +167,9 @@ void BorderLayout::addItem(Plasma::LayoutItem * item)
 
 void BorderLayout::addItem(Plasma::LayoutItem * item, Position position)
 {
+    removeItem(item);
     d->itemPositions[position] = item;
+    item->setManagingLayout(this);
     update();
 }
 
@@ -178,6 +180,7 @@ void BorderLayout::removeItem(LayoutItem * item)
         i.next();
         if (i.value() == item) {
             i.remove();
+            item->unsetManagingLayout(this);
         }
     }
     update();
diff --git a/widgets/boxlayout.cpp b/widgets/boxlayout.cpp
index c1e60ccc2..3a58ac396 100644
--- a/widgets/boxlayout.cpp
+++ b/widgets/boxlayout.cpp
@@ -297,26 +297,28 @@ int BoxLayout::count() const
 
 void BoxLayout::insertItem(int index, LayoutItem *item)
 {
-    if (!item) {
+    if (!item || d->children.contains(item)) {
         return;
     }
 
     item->setManagingLayout(this);
 
-    if ( index == -1 )
+    if (index == -1) {
         index = d->children.size();
+    }
 
     d->children.insert(index, item);
 
-    if ( animator() )
+    if (animator())  {
         animator()->setCurrentState(item,LayoutAnimator::InsertedState);
+    }
 
     update();
 }
 
 void BoxLayout::addItem(LayoutItem *item)
 {
-    insertItem(-1,item);
+    insertItem(-1, item);
 }
 
 void BoxLayout::removeItem(LayoutItem *item)
diff --git a/widgets/flowlayout.cpp b/widgets/flowlayout.cpp
index 6bf129379..a9223dc02 100644
--- a/widgets/flowlayout.cpp
+++ b/widgets/flowlayout.cpp
@@ -54,21 +54,29 @@ int FlowLayout::count() const
 {
     return d->items.count();
 }
+
 void FlowLayout::addItem(LayoutItem* item)
 {
+    if (d->items.contains(item)) {
+        return;
+    }
+
     d->items << item;
 
-    if ( animator() )
+    if (animator()) {
         animator()->setCurrentState(item,LayoutAnimator::InsertedState);
+    }
 
     item->setManagingLayout(this);
 }
 void FlowLayout::removeItem(LayoutItem* item)
 {
+    item->unsetManagingLayout(this);
     d->items.removeAll(item);
 
-    if ( animator() )
+    if (animator()) {
         animator()->setCurrentState(item,LayoutAnimator::RemovedState);
+    }
 }
 int FlowLayout::indexOf(LayoutItem* item) const
 {
diff --git a/widgets/freelayout.cpp b/widgets/freelayout.cpp
index 50b21702b..d9326d2c6 100644
--- a/widgets/freelayout.cpp
+++ b/widgets/freelayout.cpp
@@ -51,6 +51,10 @@ Qt::Orientations FreeLayout::expandingDirections() const
 
 void FreeLayout::addItem(LayoutItem *item)
 {
+    if (d->children.contains(item)) {
+        return;
+    }
+
     d->children << item;
     item->setManagingLayout(this);
 }
@@ -58,6 +62,7 @@ void FreeLayout::addItem(LayoutItem *item)
 void FreeLayout::removeItem(LayoutItem *item)
 {
     d->children.removeAll(item);
+    item->unsetManagingLayout(this);
 }
 
 int FreeLayout::indexOf(LayoutItem *item) const
diff --git a/widgets/nodelayout.cpp b/widgets/nodelayout.cpp
index c99d07da9..358f32748 100644
--- a/widgets/nodelayout.cpp
+++ b/widgets/nodelayout.cpp
@@ -194,22 +194,34 @@ void NodeLayout::addItem (LayoutItem * item)
 
 void NodeLayout::addItem (LayoutItem * item, NodeCoordinate topLeft, NodeCoordinate bottomRight)
 {
-    if (!item) return;
+    if (!item) {
+        return;
+    }
+
     d->items[item] = QPair<NodeCoordinate, NodeCoordinate>(topLeft, bottomRight);
+    item->setManagingLayout(this);
     d->calculateSizeHint(item);
 }
 
 void NodeLayout::addItem (LayoutItem * item, NodeCoordinate node, qreal xr, qreal yr)
 {
-    if (!item) return;
+    if (!item) {
+        return;
+    }
+
     d->items[item] = QPair<NodeCoordinate, NodeCoordinate>(node,
         NodeCoordinate::simple(xr, yr, NodeCoordinate::InnerRelative, NodeCoordinate::InnerRelative));
+    item->setManagingLayout(this);
     d->calculateSizeHint(item);
 }
 
 void NodeLayout::removeItem (LayoutItem * item)
 {
-    if (!item) return;
+    if (!item) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    item->unsetManagingLayout(this);
     d->items.remove(item);
     d->calculateSizeHint();
 }