diff --git a/src/core.c b/src/core.c
index 7a830a5..065dbac 100644
--- a/src/core.c
+++ b/src/core.c
@@ -170,7 +170,8 @@ MwWidget MwVaListCreateWidget(MwClass widget_class, const char* name, MwWidget p
 }
 
 static void MwFreeWidget(MwWidget handle) {
-	int i;
+	int	 i;
+	MwWidget root = handle;
 
 	MwDispatch(handle, destroy);
 
@@ -178,6 +179,14 @@ static void MwFreeWidget(MwWidget handle) {
 		MwFreeWidget(handle->children[i]);
 	}
 
+	while(root->parent != NULL) root = root->parent;
+	for(i = 0; i < arrlen(root->tick_list); i++) {
+		if(handle == root->tick_list[i]) {
+			arrdel(root->tick_list, i);
+			i--;
+		}
+	}
+
 	free(handle->name);
 
 	MwLLDestroy(handle->lowlevel);
@@ -199,19 +208,9 @@ static void MwFreeWidget(MwWidget handle) {
 }
 
 void MwDestroyWidget(MwWidget handle) {
-	int	 i;
-	MwWidget root = handle;
 	if(handle->parent != NULL) {
 		arrput(handle->parent->destroy_queue, handle);
 	}
-
-	while(root->parent != NULL) root = root->parent;
-	for(i = 0; i < arrlen(root->tick_list); i++) {
-		if(handle == root->tick_list[i]) {
-			arrdel(root->tick_list, i);
-			i--;
-		}
-	}
 }
 
 void MwStep(MwWidget handle) {