diff --git a/source/glest_game/main/main.cpp b/source/glest_game/main/main.cpp
index d18708a58..5a63bae45 100644
--- a/source/glest_game/main/main.cpp
+++ b/source/glest_game/main/main.cpp
@@ -4990,6 +4990,7 @@ __try {
 #endif
 
 	initSpecialStrings();
+	IRCThread::setGlobalCacheContainerName(GameConstants::ircClientCacheLookupKey);
 	int result = glestMain(argc, argv);
 
 	if(SystemFlags::VERBOSE_MODE_ENABLED) printf("In [%s::%s Line: %d]\n",__FILE__,__FUNCTION__,__LINE__);
diff --git a/source/shared_lib/include/platform/posix/ircclient.h b/source/shared_lib/include/platform/posix/ircclient.h
index aae0aaaba..abc28064f 100644
--- a/source/shared_lib/include/platform/posix/ircclient.h
+++ b/source/shared_lib/include/platform/posix/ircclient.h
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ class IRCThread : public BaseThread
 public:
 	static bool debugEnabled;
 protected:
+	static const char *globalCacheContainerName;
 
     std::vector<string> argv;
     irc_session_t *ircSession;
@@ -86,6 +87,8 @@ public:
     virtual void signalQuit();
     virtual bool shutdownAndWait();
 
+    static void setGlobalCacheContainerName(const char *name) { globalCacheContainerName = name; }
+
     void setPlayerName(string value) { playerName = value; }
     string getPlayerName() const { return playerName; }
 
diff --git a/source/shared_lib/sources/platform/posix/ircclient.cpp b/source/shared_lib/sources/platform/posix/ircclient.cpp
index 51bf1bd47..559e1884f 100644
--- a/source/shared_lib/sources/platform/posix/ircclient.cpp
+++ b/source/shared_lib/sources/platform/posix/ircclient.cpp
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include "ircclient.h"
 #include "util.h"
 #include "platform_common.h"
+#include "cache_manager.h"
 
 #if !defined(DISABLE_IRCCLIENT)
 
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ using namespace Shared::PlatformCommon;
 
 namespace Shared { namespace PlatformCommon {
 
+const char *IRCThread::globalCacheContainerName = NULL;
 const int IRC_SERVER_PORT = 6667;
 //bool IRCThread::debugEnabled = true;
 bool IRCThread::debugEnabled = false;
@@ -697,6 +699,11 @@ void IRCThread::execute() {
 
 IRCThread::~IRCThread() {
 	if(SystemFlags::VERBOSE_MODE_ENABLED) printf("In ~IRCThread() ...\n");
+
+	if(IRCThread::globalCacheContainerName != NULL) {
+		IRCThread * &ircClient = CacheManager::getCachedItem< IRCThread * >(IRCThread::globalCacheContainerName);
+		ircClient = NULL;
+	}
 }
 
 void normalizeNick(char *nick) {