diff --git a/private/packages.cpp b/private/packages.cpp
index d73879276..1b6311a25 100644
--- a/private/packages.cpp
+++ b/private/packages.cpp
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ namespace Plasma
 {
 
 PlasmoidPackage::PlasmoidPackage(QObject *parent)
-    : Plasma::PackageStructure(parent, QString("Plasmoid"))
+    : Plasma::PackageStructure(parent, QString("Plasmoid")),
+      m_knsEngine(0)
 {
     addDirectoryDefinition("images", "images/", i18n("Images"));
     QStringList mimetypes;
@@ -66,6 +67,11 @@ PlasmoidPackage::PlasmoidPackage(QObject *parent)
     setRequired("mainscript", true);
 }
 
+PlasmoidPackage::~PlasmoidPackage()
+{
+    delete m_knsEngine;
+}
+
 void PlasmoidPackage::pathChanged()
 {
     KDesktopFile config(path() + "/metadata.desktop");
@@ -79,10 +85,20 @@ void PlasmoidPackage::pathChanged()
 
 void PlasmoidPackage::createNewWidgetBrowser(QWidget *parent)
 {
-    KNS::Engine *engine = new KNS::Engine(parent);
-    if (engine->init("plasmoids.knsrc")) {
-        engine->downloadDialog(this, SLOT(widgetBrowserFinished()));
-    }
+//FIXME: memory leak below: it creates a new KNS::Engine every time it's called
+//       however, due to issues in the KNS2 library, reusing the same engine causes crashes :(
+//    if (!m_knsEngine) {
+        m_knsEngine = new KNS::Engine(parent);
+        kDebug() << "creating new kns engine" << m_knsEngine;
+        if (!m_knsEngine->init("plasmoids.knsrc")) {
+            delete m_knsEngine;
+            m_knsEngine = 0;
+            return;
+        }
+//    }
+
+    kDebug() << "successful kns engine" << m_knsEngine;
+    m_knsEngine->downloadDialog(this, SLOT(widgetBrowserFinished()));
 }
 
 void PlasmoidPackage::widgetBrowserFinished()
diff --git a/private/packages_p.h b/private/packages_p.h
index 7e00f91bb..a1f8280b3 100644
--- a/private/packages_p.h
+++ b/private/packages_p.h
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@
 #include "plasma/wallpaper.h"
 #include "plasma/plasma.h"
 
+namespace KNS
+{
+    class Engine;
+} // namespace KNS
+
 namespace Plasma
 {
 
@@ -34,6 +39,7 @@ class PlasmoidPackage : public PackageStructure
     Q_OBJECT
 public:
     explicit PlasmoidPackage(QObject *parent = 0);
+    ~PlasmoidPackage();
     void createNewWidgetBrowser(QWidget *parent = 0);
 
 protected:
@@ -41,6 +47,10 @@ protected:
 
 protected Q_SLOTS:
     void widgetBrowserFinished();
+    void deleteNewStuffEngine();
+
+private:
+    KNS::Engine *m_knsEngine;
 };
 
 class ThemePackage : public PackageStructure