diff --git a/client.c b/client.c
index ba7960704..d3cb55b18 100644
--- a/client.c
+++ b/client.c
@@ -93,9 +93,9 @@ client_maybevisible(client_t *c, int screen)
 /** Return the content of a client as an image.
  * That's just take a screenshot.
  * \param c The client.
- * \return An image.
+ * \return 1 if the image has been pushed on stack, false otherwise.
  */
-static image_t *
+static int
 client_getcontent(client_t *c)
 {
     xcb_image_t *ximage = xcb_image_get(globalconf.connection,
@@ -104,24 +104,27 @@ client_getcontent(client_t *c)
                                         c->geometries.internal.width,
                                         c->geometries.internal.height,
                                         ~0, XCB_IMAGE_FORMAT_Z_PIXMAP);
+    int retval = 0;
 
-    if(!ximage || ximage->bpp < 24)
-        return NULL;
-
-    uint32_t *data = p_alloca(uint32_t, ximage->width * ximage->height);
-
-    for(int y = 0; y < ximage->height; y++)
-        for(int x = 0; x < ximage->width; x++)
+    if(ximage)
+    {
+        if(ximage->bpp >= 24)
         {
-            data[y * ximage->width + x] = xcb_image_get_pixel(ximage, x, y);
-            data[y * ximage->width + x] |= 0xff000000; /* set alpha to 0xff */
+            uint32_t *data = p_alloca(uint32_t, ximage->width * ximage->height);
+
+            for(int y = 0; y < ximage->height; y++)
+                for(int x = 0; x < ximage->width; x++)
+                {
+                    data[y * ximage->width + x] = xcb_image_get_pixel(ximage, x, y);
+                    data[y * ximage->width + x] |= 0xff000000; /* set alpha to 0xff */
+                }
+
+            retval = image_new_from_argb32(ximage->width, ximage->height, data);
         }
+        xcb_image_destroy(ximage);
+    }
 
-    image_t *image = image_new_from_argb32(ximage->width, ximage->height, data);
-
-    xcb_image_destroy(ximage);
-
-    return image;
+    return retval;
 }
 
 /** Get a client by its window.
@@ -425,7 +428,6 @@ client_manage(xcb_window_t w, xcb_get_geometry_reply_t *wgeom, int phys_screen,
 {
     xcb_get_property_cookie_t ewmh_icon_cookie;
     client_t *c, *tc = NULL;
-    image_t *icon;
     int screen;
     const uint32_t select_input_val[] = { CLIENT_SELECT_INPUT_EVENT_MASK };
 
@@ -457,8 +459,9 @@ client_manage(xcb_window_t w, xcb_get_geometry_reply_t *wgeom, int phys_screen,
     c->geometries.internal.width = wgeom->width;
     c->geometries.internal.height = wgeom->height;
     client_setborder(c, wgeom->border_width);
-    if((icon = ewmh_window_icon_get_reply(ewmh_icon_cookie)))
-        c->icon = image_ref(&icon);
+
+    if(ewmh_window_icon_get_reply(ewmh_icon_cookie))
+        c->icon = image_ref(globalconf.L);
 
     /* we honor size hints by default */
     c->size_hints_honor = true;
@@ -1650,7 +1653,6 @@ luaA_client_newindex(lua_State *L)
     double d;
     int i;
     wibox_t **t = NULL;
-    image_t **image;
 
     if((*c)->invalid)
         luaL_error(L, "client is invalid\n");
@@ -1687,10 +1689,8 @@ luaA_client_newindex(lua_State *L)
         client_setmaxvert(*c, luaA_checkboolean(L, 3));
         break;
       case A_TK_ICON:
-        image = luaA_checkudata(L, 3, "image");
-        image_unref(&(*c)->icon);
-        image_ref(image);
-        (*c)->icon = *image;
+        image_unref(L, (*c)->icon);
+        (*c)->icon = image_ref(L);
         /* execute hook */
         hooks_property(*c, "icon");
         break;
@@ -1808,8 +1808,6 @@ luaA_client_index(lua_State *L)
 
     switch(a_tokenize(buf, len))
     {
-        image_t *image;
-
       case A_TK_NAME:
         lua_pushstring(L, (*c)->name);
         break;
@@ -1821,9 +1819,7 @@ luaA_client_index(lua_State *L)
         lua_pushboolean(L, (*c)->skiptb);
         break;
       case A_TK_CONTENT:
-        if((image = client_getcontent(*c)))
-            return luaA_image_userdata_new(L, image);
-        return 0;
+        return client_getcontent(*c);
       case A_TK_TYPE:
         switch((*c)->type)
         {
@@ -1937,10 +1933,7 @@ luaA_client_index(lua_State *L)
         lua_pushboolean(L, (*c)->ismaxvert);
         break;
       case A_TK_ICON:
-        if((*c)->icon)
-            luaA_image_userdata_new(L, (*c)->icon);
-        else
-            return 0;
+        image_push(L, (*c)->icon);
         break;
       case A_TK_OPACITY:
         if((d = window_opacity_get((*c)->win)) >= 0)
diff --git a/ewmh.c b/ewmh.c
index 7d8b93188..3640a20e0 100644
--- a/ewmh.c
+++ b/ewmh.c
@@ -656,32 +656,29 @@ ewmh_window_icon_get_unchecked(xcb_window_t w)
                                     _NET_WM_ICON, CARDINAL, 0, UINT32_MAX);
 }
 
-image_t *
+int
 ewmh_window_icon_from_reply(xcb_get_property_reply_t *r)
 {
     uint32_t *data;
 
-    if(!r || r->type != CARDINAL || r->format != 32 || r->length < 2 ||
-       !(data = (uint32_t *) xcb_get_property_value(r)))
-        return NULL;
-
-    if(data[0] && data[1])
+    if(r && r->type == CARDINAL && r->format == 32 && r->length >= 2 &&
+       (data = (uint32_t *) xcb_get_property_value(r)) && data[0] && data[1])
         return image_new_from_argb32(data[0], data[1], data + 2);
 
-    return NULL;
+    return 0;
 }
 
 /** Get NET_WM_ICON.
  * \param cookie The cookie.
- * \return A draw_image_t structure which must be deleted after usage.
+ * \return The number of elements on stack.
  */
-image_t *
+int
 ewmh_window_icon_get_reply(xcb_get_property_cookie_t cookie)
 {
     xcb_get_property_reply_t *r = xcb_get_property_reply(globalconf.connection, cookie, NULL);
-    image_t *icon = ewmh_window_icon_from_reply(r);
+    int ret = ewmh_window_icon_from_reply(r);
     p_delete(&r);
-    return icon;
+    return ret;
 }
 
 // vim: filetype=c:expandtab:shiftwidth=4:tabstop=8:softtabstop=4:encoding=utf-8:textwidth=80
diff --git a/ewmh.h b/ewmh.h
index 5a610d69d..dfad0a1c3 100644
--- a/ewmh.h
+++ b/ewmh.h
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ void ewmh_update_workarea(int);
 void ewmh_process_client_strut(client_t *, xcb_get_property_reply_t *);
 void ewmh_update_client_strut(client_t *c);
 xcb_get_property_cookie_t ewmh_window_icon_get_unchecked(xcb_window_t);
-image_t *ewmh_window_icon_from_reply(xcb_get_property_reply_t *);
-image_t *ewmh_window_icon_get_reply(xcb_get_property_cookie_t);
+int ewmh_window_icon_from_reply(xcb_get_property_reply_t *);
+int ewmh_window_icon_get_reply(xcb_get_property_cookie_t);
 
 #endif
 // vim: filetype=c:expandtab:shiftwidth=4:tabstop=8:softtabstop=4:encoding=utf-8:textwidth=80
diff --git a/image.c b/image.c
index 5c12ca75b..a57f22af4 100644
--- a/image.c
+++ b/image.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * image.c - image object
  *
- * Copyright © 2008 Julien Danjou <julien@danjou.info>
+ * Copyright © 2008-2009 Julien Danjou <julien@danjou.info>
  *
  * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -21,9 +21,17 @@
 
 #include "structs.h"
 
-DO_LUA_NEW(extern, image_t, image, "image", image_ref)
-DO_LUA_GC(image_t, image, "image", image_unref)
-DO_LUA_EQ(image_t, image, "image")
+DO_LUA_TOSTRING(image_t, image, "image");
+
+static int
+luaA_image_gc(lua_State *L)
+{
+    image_t *p = luaL_checkudata(L, 1, "image");
+    imlib_context_set_image(p->image);
+    imlib_free_image();
+    p_delete(&p->data);
+    return 0;
+}
 
 static const char *
 image_imlib_load_strerror(Imlib_Load_Error e)
@@ -104,31 +112,31 @@ image_compute(image_t *image)
  * \param width The image width.
  * \param height The image height.
  * \param data The image data.
- * \return A brand new image.
+ * \return 1 if an image has been pushed on stack, 0 otherwise.
  */
-image_t *
+int
 image_new_from_argb32(int width, int height, uint32_t *data)
 {
     Imlib_Image imimage;
-    image_t *image = NULL;
 
     if((imimage = imlib_create_image_using_copied_data(width, height, data)))
     {
         imlib_context_set_image(imimage);
         imlib_image_set_has_alpha(true);
-        image = p_new(image_t, 1);
+        image_t *image = image_new(globalconf.L);
         image->image = imimage;
         image_compute(image);
+        return 1;
     }
 
-    return image;
+    return 0;
 }
 
 /** Load an image from filename.
  * \param filename The image file to load.
- * \return A new image.
+ * \return 1 if image is loaded and on stack, 0 otherwise.
  */
-static image_t *
+static int
 image_new_from_file(const char *filename)
 {
     Imlib_Image imimage;
@@ -136,20 +144,20 @@ image_new_from_file(const char *filename)
     image_t *image;
 
     if(!filename)
-        return NULL;
+        return 0;
 
     if(!(imimage = imlib_load_image_with_error_return(filename, &e)))
     {
         warn("cannot load image %s: %s", filename, image_imlib_load_strerror(e));
-        return NULL;
+        return 0;
     }
 
-    image = p_new(image_t, 1);
+    image = image_new(globalconf.L);
     image->image = imimage;
 
     image_compute(image);
 
-    return image;
+    return 1;
 }
 
 /** Create a new image object.
@@ -167,11 +175,7 @@ luaA_image_new(lua_State *L)
     const char *filename;
 
     if((filename = lua_tostring(L, 2)))
-    {
-        image_t *image;
-        if((image = image_new_from_file(filename)))
-            return luaA_image_userdata_new(L, image);
-    }
+        return image_new_from_file(filename);
     else if(lua_isnil(L, 2))
     {
         int width = luaL_checknumber(L, 3);
@@ -181,10 +185,10 @@ luaA_image_new(lua_State *L)
             luaL_error(L, "request image has invalid size");
 
         Imlib_Image imimage = imlib_create_image(width, height);
-        image_t *image = p_new(image_t, 1);
+        image_t *image = image_new(L);
         image->image = imimage;
         image_compute(image);
-        return luaA_image_userdata_new(L, image);
+        return 1;
     }
 
     return 0;
@@ -203,7 +207,6 @@ static int
 luaA_image_argb32_new(lua_State *L)
 {
     size_t len;
-    image_t *image;
     unsigned int width = luaL_checknumber(L, 1);
     unsigned int height = luaL_checknumber(L, 2);
     const char *data = luaL_checklstring(L, 3, &len);
@@ -211,10 +214,7 @@ luaA_image_argb32_new(lua_State *L)
     if(width * height * 4 != len)
         luaL_error(L, "string size does not match image size");
 
-    if((image = image_new_from_argb32(width, height, (uint32_t *) data)))
-        return luaA_image_userdata_new(L, image);
-
-    return 0;
+    return image_new_from_argb32(width, height, (uint32_t *) data);
 }
 
 /** Performs 90 degree rotations on the current image. Passing 0 orientation
@@ -229,13 +229,13 @@ luaA_image_argb32_new(lua_State *L)
 static int
 luaA_image_orientate(lua_State *L)
 {
-    image_t **image = luaA_checkudata(L, 1, "image");
+    image_t *image = luaL_checkudata(L, 1, "image");
     int orientation = luaL_checknumber(L, 2);
 
-    imlib_context_set_image((*image)->image);
+    imlib_context_set_image(image->image);
     imlib_image_orientate(orientation);
 
-    image_compute(*image);
+    image_compute(image);
 
     return 0;
 }
@@ -251,17 +251,17 @@ luaA_image_orientate(lua_State *L)
 static int
 luaA_image_rotate(lua_State *L)
 {
-    image_t **image = luaA_checkudata(L, 1, "image"), *new;
+    image_t *image = luaL_checkudata(L, 1, "image"), *new;
     double angle = luaL_checknumber(L, 2);
 
-    new = p_new(image_t, 1);
+    new = image_new(L);
 
-    imlib_context_set_image((*image)->image);
+    imlib_context_set_image(image->image);
     new->image = imlib_create_rotated_image(angle);
 
     image_compute(new);
 
-    return luaA_image_userdata_new(L, new);
+    return 1;
 }
 
 /** Crop an image to the given rectangle.
@@ -277,20 +277,20 @@ luaA_image_rotate(lua_State *L)
 static int
 luaA_image_crop(lua_State *L)
 {
-    image_t **image = luaA_checkudata(L, 1, "image"), *new;
+    image_t *image = luaL_checkudata(L, 1, "image"), *new;
     int x = luaL_checkint(L, 2);
     int y = luaL_checkint(L, 3);
     int w = luaL_checkint(L, 4);
     int h = luaL_checkint(L, 5);
 
-    new = p_new(image_t, 1);
+    new = image_new(L);
 
-    imlib_context_set_image((*image)->image);
+    imlib_context_set_image(image->image);
     new->image = imlib_create_cropped_image(x, y, w, h);
 
     image_compute(new);
 
-    return luaA_image_userdata_new(L, new);
+    return 1;
 }
 
 /** Crop the image to the given rectangle and scales it.
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ luaA_image_crop(lua_State *L)
 static int
 luaA_image_crop_and_scale(lua_State *L)
 {
-    image_t **image = luaA_checkudata(L, 1, "image"), *new;
+    image_t *image = luaL_checkudata(L, 1, "image"), *new;
     int source_x = luaL_checkint(L, 2);
     int source_y = luaL_checkint(L, 3);
     int w = luaL_checkint(L, 4);
@@ -317,9 +317,9 @@ luaA_image_crop_and_scale(lua_State *L)
     int dest_w = luaL_checkint(L, 6);
     int dest_h = luaL_checkint(L, 7);
 
-    new = p_new(image_t, 1);
+    new = image_new(L);
 
-    imlib_context_set_image((*image)->image);
+    imlib_context_set_image(image->image);
     new->image = imlib_create_cropped_scaled_image(source_x,
                                                    source_y,
                                                    w, h,
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ luaA_image_crop_and_scale(lua_State *L)
 
     image_compute(new);
 
-    return luaA_image_userdata_new(L, new);
+    return 1;
 }
 
 /** Saves the image to the given path. The file extension (e.g. .png or .jpg)
@@ -341,11 +341,11 @@ luaA_image_crop_and_scale(lua_State *L)
 static int
 luaA_image_save(lua_State *L)
 {
-    image_t **image = luaA_checkudata(L, 1, "image");
+    image_t *image = luaL_checkudata(L, 1, "image");
     const char *path = luaL_checkstring(L, 2);
     Imlib_Load_Error err;
 
-    imlib_context_set_image((*image)->image);
+    imlib_context_set_image(image->image);
     imlib_save_image_with_error_return(path, &err);
 
     if(err != IMLIB_LOAD_ERROR_NONE)
@@ -368,22 +368,22 @@ luaA_image_index(lua_State *L)
     if(luaA_usemetatable(L, 1, 2))
         return 1;
 
-    image_t **image = luaA_checkudata(L, 1, "image");
+    image_t *image = luaL_checkudata(L, 1, "image");
     size_t len;
     const char *attr = luaL_checklstring(L, 2, &len);
 
     switch(a_tokenize(attr, len))
     {
       case A_TK_WIDTH:
-        imlib_context_set_image((*image)->image);
+        imlib_context_set_image(image->image);
         lua_pushnumber(L, imlib_image_get_width());
         break;
       case A_TK_HEIGHT:
-        imlib_context_set_image((*image)->image);
+        imlib_context_set_image(image->image);
         lua_pushnumber(L, imlib_image_get_height());
         break;
       case A_TK_ALPHA:
-        imlib_context_set_image((*image)->image);
+        imlib_context_set_image(image->image);
         lua_pushboolean(L, imlib_image_has_alpha());
         break;
       default:
@@ -408,7 +408,6 @@ const struct luaL_reg awesome_image_meta[] =
     { "crop_and_scale", luaA_image_crop_and_scale },
     { "save", luaA_image_save },
     { "__gc", luaA_image_gc },
-    { "__eq", luaA_image_eq },
     { "__tostring", luaA_image_tostring },
     { NULL, NULL }
 };
diff --git a/image.h b/image.h
index 4b38222d0..b3669ec9b 100644
--- a/image.h
+++ b/image.h
@@ -22,16 +22,15 @@
 #ifndef AWESOME_IMAGE_H
 #define AWESOME_IMAGE_H
 
-#include <lua.h>
 #include <Imlib2.h>
 
 #include "common/util.h"
-#include "common/refcount.h"
+#include "common/luaobject.h"
 
 typedef struct
 {
-    /** Reference counter */
-    int refcount;
+    /** Lua references */
+    luaA_ref_array_t refs;
     /** Imlib2 image */
     Imlib_Image image;
     /** Image width */
@@ -42,23 +41,9 @@ typedef struct
     uint8_t *data;
 } image_t;
 
-static inline void
-image_delete(image_t **i)
-{
-    if(*i)
-    {
-        imlib_context_set_image((*i)->image);
-        imlib_free_image();
-        p_delete(&(*i)->data);
-        p_delete(i);
-    }
-}
+LUA_OBJECT_FUNCS(image_t, image, "image")
 
-DO_RCNT(image_t, image, image_delete)
-
-image_t * image_new_from_argb32(int, int, uint32_t *);
-
-int luaA_image_userdata_new(lua_State *, image_t *);
+int image_new_from_argb32(int, int, uint32_t *);
 
 #endif
 // vim: filetype=c:expandtab:shiftwidth=4:tabstop=8:softtabstop=4:encoding=utf-8:textwidth=80
diff --git a/property.c b/property.c
index e677dd6c6..cc96d4a63 100644
--- a/property.c
+++ b/property.c
@@ -336,11 +336,9 @@ property_handle_net_wm_icon(void *data,
 
     if(c)
     {
-        image_t *icon;
-        image_unref(&c->icon);
-        icon = ewmh_window_icon_from_reply(reply);
-        c->icon = icon ? image_ref(&icon) : NULL;
-
+        image_unref(globalconf.L, c->icon);
+        if(ewmh_window_icon_from_reply(reply))
+            c->icon = image_ref(globalconf.L);
         /* execute hook */
         hooks_property(c, "icon");
     }
diff --git a/wibox.c b/wibox.c
index 59e51a98f..f4f2a9908 100644
--- a/wibox.c
+++ b/wibox.c
@@ -875,10 +875,7 @@ luaA_wibox_index(lua_State *L)
         luaA_pushcolor(L, &(*wibox)->sw.ctx.bg);
         break;
       case A_TK_BG_IMAGE:
-        if((*wibox)->bg_image)
-            luaA_image_userdata_new(L, (*wibox)->bg_image);
-        else
-            return 0;
+        image_push(L, (*wibox)->bg_image);
         break;
       case A_TK_POSITION:
         lua_pushstring(L, position_tostr((*wibox)->position));
@@ -996,21 +993,9 @@ luaA_wibox_newindex(lua_State *L)
                 (*wibox)->need_update = true;
         break;
       case A_TK_BG_IMAGE:
-        {
-            if(lua_isnil(L, 3))
-            {
-                image_unref(&(*wibox)->bg_image);
-                (*wibox)->bg_image = NULL;
-                (*wibox)->need_update = true;
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                image_t **img = luaA_checkudata(L, 3, "image");
-                image_unref(&(*wibox)->bg_image);
-                (*wibox)->bg_image = image_ref(img);
-                (*wibox)->need_update = true;
-            }
-        }
+        image_unref(L, (*wibox)->bg_image);
+        (*wibox)->bg_image = image_ref(L);
+        (*wibox)->need_update = true;
         break;
       case A_TK_ALIGN:
         buf = luaL_checklstring(L, 3, &len);
diff --git a/widgets/imagebox.c b/widgets/imagebox.c
index 200764655..c88c9e299 100644
--- a/widgets/imagebox.c
+++ b/widgets/imagebox.c
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ static void
 imagebox_destructor(widget_t *w)
 {
     imagebox_data_t *d = w->data;
-    image_unref(&d->image);
+    image_unref(globalconf.L, d->image);
     p_delete(&d);
 }
 
@@ -138,10 +138,8 @@ luaA_imagebox_index(lua_State *L, awesome_token_t token)
     switch(token)
     {
       case A_TK_IMAGE:
-        if(d->image)
-            return luaA_image_userdata_new(L, d->image);
-        else
-            return 0;
+        image_push(L, d->image);
+        break;
       case A_TK_BG:
         luaA_pushcolor(L, &d->bg);
         break;
@@ -167,7 +165,6 @@ static int
 luaA_imagebox_newindex(lua_State *L, awesome_token_t token)
 {
     widget_t **widget = luaA_checkudata(L, 1, "widget");
-    image_t **image = NULL;
     imagebox_data_t *d = (*widget)->data;
 
     switch(token)
@@ -176,16 +173,8 @@ luaA_imagebox_newindex(lua_State *L, awesome_token_t token)
         size_t len;
 
       case A_TK_IMAGE:
-        if(lua_isnil(L, 3)
-           || (image = luaA_checkudata(L, 3, "image")))
-        {
-            /* unref image */
-            image_unref(&d->image);
-            if(image)
-                d->image = image_ref(image);
-            else
-                d->image = NULL;
-        }
+        image_unref(L, d->image);
+        d->image = image_ref(L);
         break;
       case A_TK_BG:
         if(lua_isnil(L, 3))
diff --git a/widgets/textbox.c b/widgets/textbox.c
index 6bbee05c4..ca10e61ef 100644
--- a/widgets/textbox.c
+++ b/widgets/textbox.c
@@ -184,10 +184,7 @@ luaA_textbox_index(lua_State *L, awesome_token_t token)
         lua_pushstring(L, draw_align_tostr(d->bg_align));
         return 1;
       case A_TK_BG_IMAGE:
-        if(d->bg_image)
-            return luaA_image_userdata_new(L, d->bg_image);
-        else
-            return 0;
+        return image_push(L, d->bg_image);
       case A_TK_BG:
         return luaA_pushcolor(L, &d->bg);
       case A_TK_MARGIN:
@@ -257,7 +254,6 @@ luaA_textbox_newindex(lua_State *L, awesome_token_t token)
     widget_t **widget = luaA_checkudata(L, 1, "widget");
     const char *buf = NULL;
     textbox_data_t *d = (*widget)->data;
-    image_t **image = NULL;
 
     switch(token)
     {
@@ -269,16 +265,8 @@ luaA_textbox_newindex(lua_State *L, awesome_token_t token)
         d->bg_resize = luaA_checkboolean(L, 3);
         break;
       case A_TK_BG_IMAGE:
-        if(lua_isnil(L, 3)
-           || (image = luaA_checkudata(L, 3, "image")))
-        {
-            /* unref image */
-            image_unref(&d->bg_image);
-            if(image)
-                d->bg_image = image_ref(image);
-            else
-                d->bg_image = NULL;
-        }
+        image_unref(L, d->bg_image);
+        d->bg_image = image_ref(L);
         break;
       case A_TK_BG:
         if(lua_isnil(L, 3))