diff --git a/lib/awful/wibox.lua.in b/lib/awful/wibox.lua.in
index 190caeaa..2a155c9b 100644
--- a/lib/awful/wibox.lua.in
+++ b/lib/awful/wibox.lua.in
@@ -115,6 +115,13 @@ function set_position(wibox, position, screen)
         wingeom.y = area.y
     end
 
+    for _, wprop in ipairs(wiboxes) do
+        if wprop.wibox == wibox then
+            wprop.position = position
+            break
+        end
+    end
+
     wibox:geometry(wingeom)
 end
 
@@ -147,6 +154,10 @@ function attach(wibox, position)
         end
     end
 
+    if position ~= "top" and position ~= "bottom" and position ~= "right" and position ~= "left" then
+        position = "floating"
+    end
+
     if not wibox_prop_table then
         table.insert(wiboxes,
         setmetatable({ wibox = wibox, position = position }, { __mode = 'v' }))