diff --git a/docs/changes.txt b/docs/changes.txt
index 82e9bf1155..8420757087 100644
--- a/docs/changes.txt
+++ b/docs/changes.txt
@@ -488,6 +488,7 @@ All (GUI):
 - Allow wxGraphicsFont creation without passing by wxFont.
 - Added wxDataViewCustomRenderer::ActivateCell().
 - Add "checked" property for toolbar tool elements in XRC.
+- Allow customization of the locations where persistent settings are stored.
 
 OSX:
 
diff --git a/include/wx/persist.h b/include/wx/persist.h
index 68097fbcbe..18bcdc2d79 100644
--- a/include/wx/persist.h
+++ b/include/wx/persist.h
@@ -44,6 +44,14 @@ wxPersistentObject *wxCreatePersistentObject(T *obj);
 class WXDLLIMPEXP_CORE wxPersistenceManager
 {
 public:
+    // Call this method to specify a non-default persistence manager to use.
+    // This function should usually be called very early to affect creation of
+    // all persistent controls and the object passed to it must have a lifetime
+    // long enough to be still alive when the persistent controls are destroyed
+    // and need it to save their state so typically this would be a global or a
+    // wxApp member.
+    static void Set(wxPersistenceManager& manager);
+
     // accessor to the unique persistence manager object
     static wxPersistenceManager& Get();
 
@@ -133,7 +141,7 @@ public:
 
 #undef wxPERSIST_DECLARE_SAVE_RESTORE_FOR
 
-private:
+protected:
     // ctor is private, use Get()
     wxPersistenceManager()
     {
@@ -142,15 +150,18 @@ private:
     }
 
 
-    // helpers of Save/Restore()
-    //
-    // TODO: make this customizable by allowing
-    //          (a) specifying custom wxConfig object to use
-    //          (b) allowing to use something else entirely
-    wxConfigBase *GetConfig() const { return wxConfigBase::Get(); }
-    wxString GetKey(const wxPersistentObject& who, const wxString& name) const;
+    // Return the config object to use, by default just the global one but a
+    // different one could be used by the derived class if needed.
+    virtual wxConfigBase *GetConfig() const { return wxConfigBase::Get(); }
+
+    // Return the path to use for saving the setting with the given name for
+    // the specified object (notice that the name is the name of the setting,
+    // not the name of the object itself which can be retrieved with GetName()).
+    virtual wxString GetKey(const wxPersistentObject& who,
+                            const wxString& name) const;
 
 
+private:
     // map with the registered objects as keys and associated
     // wxPersistentObjects as values
     wxPersistentObjectsMap m_persistentObjects;
diff --git a/interface/wx/persist.h b/interface/wx/persist.h
index 8b0ef8f57d..97e3fb60cb 100644
--- a/interface/wx/persist.h
+++ b/interface/wx/persist.h
@@ -24,8 +24,26 @@
 class wxPersistenceManager
 {
 public:
+    /**
+        Set the global persistence manager to use.
+
+        Call this method to specify a non-default persistence manager to use.
+        It should usually be called very early (e.g. in wxApp-derived class
+        constructor or in the beginning of overridden wxApp::OnInit()) to
+        affect creation of all persistent controls and the object passed to it
+        must have a lifetime long enough to be still alive when the persistent
+        controls are destroyed and need it to save their state so typically
+        this would be a global or a wxApp member.
+
+        @since 2.9.3
+     */
+    static void Set(wxPersistenceManager& manager);
+
     /**
         Returns the unique persistence manager object.
+
+        If Set() hadn't been called before, a default persistence manager
+        implementation is returned.
      */
     static wxPersistenceManager& Get();
 
@@ -142,6 +160,46 @@ public:
 
     bool RegisterAndRestore(void *obj, wxPersistentObject *po);
     //@}
+
+protected:
+    /**
+        Protected default constructor.
+
+        This constructor is only provided for the derived classes, to use an
+        object of this class static Get() method should be called.
+     */
+    wxPersistenceManager();
+
+    /**
+        Return the config object to use.
+
+        By default the global wxConfig, returned by wxConfigBase::Get(), is
+        used but a derived class could override this function to return a
+        different one if necessary.
+
+        @since 2.9.3
+     */
+    virtual wxConfigBase *GetConfig() const;
+
+    /**
+        Return the path to use for saving the setting with the given name for
+        the specified object.
+
+        Notice that the @a name argument is the name of the setting, not the
+        name of the object itself which can be retrieved with its GetName()
+        method.
+
+        This method can be overridden by a derived class to change where in
+        wxConfig the different options are stored. By default, all settings of
+        the persistent controls are stored under "Persistent_Options" group and
+        grouped by control type (e.g. "Window" for top level windows or
+        "Splitter") and name, so that the position of a splitter called "sep"
+        could be stored under "Persistent_Options/Splitter/sep/Position" key.
+
+        @since 2.9.3
+     */
+    virtual wxString GetKey(const wxPersistentObject& who,
+                            const wxString& name) const;
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/common/persist.cpp b/src/common/persist.cpp
index 7f8898f327..4ca337cc0c 100644
--- a/src/common/persist.cpp
+++ b/src/common/persist.cpp
@@ -30,16 +30,34 @@
 
 #include "wx/persist.h"
 
+namespace
+{
+
+wxPersistenceManager* gs_manager = NULL;
+
+} // anonymous namespace
+
 // ============================================================================
 // wxPersistenceManager implementation
 // ============================================================================
 
+/* static */
+void wxPersistenceManager::Set(wxPersistenceManager& manager)
+{
+    gs_manager = &manager;
+}
+
 /* static */
 wxPersistenceManager& wxPersistenceManager::Get()
 {
-    static wxPersistenceManager s_manager;
+    if ( !gs_manager )
+    {
+        static wxPersistenceManager s_manager;
 
-    return s_manager;
+        gs_manager = &s_manager;
+    }
+
+    return *gs_manager;
 }
 
 wxPersistenceManager::~wxPersistenceManager()