diff --git a/engine/client/menu.c b/engine/client/menu.c
index 190444796..486c3589b 100644
--- a/engine/client/menu.c
+++ b/engine/client/menu.c
@@ -1577,6 +1577,18 @@ void M_Init (void)
 }
 #endif
 
+void M_Window_ClosePrompt(void)
+{	//someone clicked our window's 'close' button or system menu or alt+f4 or etc. we blocked it for now, but don't just ignore it...
+	COM_AssertMainThread("M_Window_ClosePrompt");
+	Key_Dest_Remove(kdm_console);
+	if (Cmd_Exists("menu_quit") || Cmd_AliasExist("menu_quit", RESTRICT_LOCAL))
+		Cmd_ExecuteString("menu_quit prompt", RESTRICT_LOCAL);	//our builtin menus use this form
+	else if (Cmd_Exists("m_quit") || Cmd_AliasExist("m_quit", RESTRICT_LOCAL))
+		Cmd_ExecuteString("m_quit", RESTRICT_LOCAL);	//some menuqc mods use a different name for the command to avoid conflicts.
+	else
+		Cmd_ExecuteString("quit", RESTRICT_LOCAL);	//fall back to the engine's version
+}
+
 
 // Generic function to choose which game menu to draw
 int M_GameType (void)
diff --git a/engine/client/menu.h b/engine/client/menu.h
index 806a32213..361ec9471 100644
--- a/engine/client/menu.h
+++ b/engine/client/menu.h
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ void M_Menu_Mods_f (void);	//used at startup if the current gamedirs look dodgy.
 void M_Menu_Installer (void);	//given an embedded manifest, this displays an install menu for said game.
 mpic_t	*M_CachePic (char *path);
 void M_Menu_Quit_f (void);
+void M_Window_ClosePrompt (void);	//called when the window was requested to be closed. displays whatever quit menu is appropriate.
 void menufixme(void); //REMOVE REMOVE REMOVE
 typedef struct emenu_s emenu_t;
 
diff --git a/engine/gl/gl_vidlinuxglx.c b/engine/gl/gl_vidlinuxglx.c
index 68a3e825a..22707837c 100644
--- a/engine/gl/gl_vidlinuxglx.c
+++ b/engine/gl/gl_vidlinuxglx.c
@@ -3193,14 +3193,8 @@ static void GetEvent(void)
 				char *protname = x11.pXGetAtomName(vid_dpy, event.xclient.data.l[0]);
 				if (!strcmp(protname, "WM_DELETE_WINDOW"))
 				{
-					Key_Dest_Remove(kdm_console);
-					if (Cmd_Exists("menu_quit") || Cmd_AliasExist("menu_quit", RESTRICT_LOCAL))
-						Cmd_ExecuteString("menu_quit prompt", RESTRICT_LOCAL);
-					else if (Cmd_Exists("m_quit") || Cmd_AliasExist("m_quit", RESTRICT_LOCAL))
-						Cmd_ExecuteString("m_quit", RESTRICT_LOCAL);
-					else
-						Cmd_ExecuteString("quit", RESTRICT_LOCAL);
-					x11.pXSetInputFocus(vid_dpy, vid_window, RevertToParent, CurrentTime);
+					x11.pXSetInputFocus(vid_dpy, vid_window, RevertToParent, CurrentTime); //make it easier to pick an option. FIXME: bring to top is a separate thing.
+					M_Window_ClosePrompt();
 				}
 				else if (!strcmp(protname, "_NET_WM_PING"))
 				{
diff --git a/engine/gl/gl_vidnt.c b/engine/gl/gl_vidnt.c
index d9d56f9d2..32627ab0e 100644
--- a/engine/gl/gl_vidnt.c
+++ b/engine/gl/gl_vidnt.c
@@ -2854,7 +2854,7 @@ void MainThreadWndProc(void *ctx, void *data, size_t msg, size_t ex)
 		Z_Free(data);
 		break;
 	case WM_CLOSE:
-		Cbuf_AddText("\nquit\n", RESTRICT_LOCAL);
+		M_Window_ClosePrompt();
 		break;
 	case WM_SIZE:
 	case WM_MOVE:
@@ -3110,6 +3110,14 @@ static LONG WINAPI GLMainWndProc (
 		case WM_CLOSE:
 			if (!vid_initializing)
 			{
+#if 1
+	#ifdef WTHREAD
+				COM_AddWork(WG_MAIN, MainThreadWndProc, NULL, NULL, uMsg, 0);
+	#else
+				M_Window_ClosePrompt();
+	#endif
+				SetFocus(hWnd);
+#else
 				if (wantquit)
 				{
 					//urr, this would be the second time that they've told us to quit.
@@ -3133,6 +3141,7 @@ static LONG WINAPI GLMainWndProc (
 #endif
 					wantquit = true;
 				}
+#endif
 			}
 			break;
 
diff --git a/engine/gl/gl_vidwayland.c b/engine/gl/gl_vidwayland.c
index 4b410c0b6..f0827bb07 100644
--- a/engine/gl/gl_vidwayland.c
+++ b/engine/gl/gl_vidwayland.c
@@ -598,13 +598,8 @@ void xdg_toplevel_handle_configure(void *data, struct xdg_toplevel *xdg_toplevel
 }
 void xdg_toplevel_handle_close(void *data, struct xdg_toplevel *xdg_toplevel)
 {
-	Key_Dest_Remove(kdm_console);
-	if (Cmd_Exists("menu_quit") || Cmd_AliasExist("menu_quit", RESTRICT_LOCAL))
-		Cmd_ExecuteString("menu_quit prompt", RESTRICT_LOCAL);
-	else if (Cmd_Exists("m_quit") || Cmd_AliasExist("m_quit", RESTRICT_LOCAL))
-		Cmd_ExecuteString("m_quit", RESTRICT_LOCAL);
-	else
-		Cmd_ExecuteString("quit", RESTRICT_LOCAL);
+	//fixme: steal focus, bring to top, or just hope the compositor is doing that for us when the user right-clicked the task bar of our minimised app or whatever.
+	M_Window_ClosePrompt();
 }
 static struct xdg_toplevel_listener {
     void (*configure)(void *data, struct xdg_toplevel *xdg_toplevel, int32_t width, int32_t height, struct wl_array *states);