diff --git a/legacy/eobj/lib/Eo.h b/legacy/eobj/lib/Eo.h
index b90bcceaa6..376b0fb6ec 100644
--- a/legacy/eobj/lib/Eo.h
+++ b/legacy/eobj/lib/Eo.h
@@ -749,7 +749,35 @@ EAPI void eo_composite_object_detach(Eo *obj, Eo *comp_obj);
  * @see eo_composite_object_attach()
  * @see eo_composite_object_detach()
  */
-EAPI Eina_Bool eo_composite_is(Eo *comp_obj);
+EAPI Eina_Bool eo_composite_is(const Eo *comp_obj);
+
+/**
+ * @brief Enable or disable the manual free feature.
+ * @param obj the object to work on.
+ * @param manual_free indicates if the free is manual (EINA_TRUE) or automatic (EINA_FALSE).
+ *
+ * The developer is in charge to call the function eo_manual_free to free the memory allocated for this object.
+ *
+ * Do not use, unless you really know what you are doing. It's used by Evas
+ * because evas wants to keep its private data available even after the object
+ * is deleted. Setting this to true makes Eo destruct the object but not free
+ * the private data or the object itself.
+ *
+ * @see eo_manual_free()
+ */
+EAPI void eo_manual_free_set(Eo *obj, Eina_Bool manual_free);
+
+/**
+ * @brief Frees the object.
+ * @param obj the object to work on.
+ * This function must be called by the developer if the function
+ * eo_manual_free_set has been called before with the parameter EINA_TRUE.
+ * An error will be printed if this function is called when the manual
+ * free option is not set to EINA_TRUE or the number of refs is not 0.
+ *
+ * @see eo_manual_free_set()
+ */
+EAPI void eo_manual_free(Eo *obj);
 
 /**
  * @}
diff --git a/legacy/eobj/lib/eo.c b/legacy/eobj/lib/eo.c
index 0f99638b72..e79b95375b 100644
--- a/legacy/eobj/lib/eo.c
+++ b/legacy/eobj/lib/eo.c
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ struct _Eo {
 
      Eina_Bool del:1;
      Eina_Bool construct_error:1;
+     Eina_Bool manual_free:1;
 };
 
 /* Start of Dich */
@@ -1193,6 +1194,13 @@ _eo_del_internal(Eo *obj)
    obj->refcount--;
 }
 
+static inline void
+_eo_free(Eo *obj)
+{
+   EINA_MAGIC_SET(obj, EO_DELETED_EINA_MAGIC);
+   free(obj);
+}
+
 static inline void
 _eo_unref(Eo *obj)
 {
@@ -1201,18 +1209,17 @@ _eo_unref(Eo *obj)
         _eo_del_internal(obj);
 
 #ifndef NDEBUG
-   /* If for some reason it's not empty, clear it. */
-   while (obj->xrefs)
-     {
-        WRN("obj->xrefs is not empty, possibly a bug, please report. - An error will be reported for each xref in the stack.");
-        Eina_Inlist *nitr = obj->xrefs->next;
-        free(EINA_INLIST_CONTAINER_GET(obj->xrefs, Eo_Xref_Node));
-        obj->xrefs = nitr;
-     }
+        /* If for some reason it's not empty, clear it. */
+        while (obj->xrefs)
+          {
+             WRN("obj->xrefs is not empty, possibly a bug, please report. - An error will be reported for each xref in the stack.");
+             Eina_Inlist *nitr = obj->xrefs->next;
+             free(EINA_INLIST_CONTAINER_GET(obj->xrefs, Eo_Xref_Node));
+             obj->xrefs = nitr;
+          }
 #endif
 
-        EINA_MAGIC_SET(obj, EO_DELETED_EINA_MAGIC);
-        free(obj);
+        if (!obj->manual_free) _eo_free(obj);
      }
 }
 
@@ -1466,7 +1473,7 @@ eo_composite_object_detach(Eo *obj, Eo *emb_obj)
 }
 
 EAPI Eina_Bool
-eo_composite_is(Eo *emb_obj)
+eo_composite_is(const Eo *emb_obj)
 {
    if (!EINA_MAGIC_CHECK(emb_obj, EO_EINA_MAGIC))
      {
@@ -1490,4 +1497,30 @@ eo_composite_is(Eo *emb_obj)
    return EINA_FALSE;
 }
 
+EAPI void
+eo_manual_free_set(Eo *obj, Eina_Bool manual_free)
+{
+   EO_MAGIC_RETURN(obj, EO_EINA_MAGIC);
+   obj->manual_free = manual_free;
+}
+
+EAPI void
+eo_manual_free(Eo *obj)
+{
+   EO_MAGIC_RETURN(obj, EO_EINA_MAGIC);
+
+   if (EINA_FALSE == obj->manual_free)
+     {
+        ERR("Tried to free manually the object %p while the option has not been set; see eo_manual_free_set for more information.", obj);
+        return;
+     }
+
+   if (0 != obj->refcount)
+     {
+        ERR("Tried deleting the object %p while still referenced(%d).", obj, eo_ref_get(obj));
+        return;
+     }
+
+   _eo_free(obj);
+}
 
diff --git a/legacy/eobj/tests/eo_test_general.c b/legacy/eobj/tests/eo_test_general.c
index e8caea41db..1bf5530989 100644
--- a/legacy/eobj/tests/eo_test_general.c
+++ b/legacy/eobj/tests/eo_test_general.c
@@ -59,6 +59,76 @@ START_TEST(eo_data_fetch)
 }
 END_TEST
 
+static void
+_man_con(Eo *obj, void *data EINA_UNUSED)
+{
+   eo_manual_free_set(obj, EINA_TRUE);
+   eo_constructor_super(obj);
+}
+
+static void
+_man_des(Eo *obj, void *data EINA_UNUSED)
+{
+   eo_destructor_super(obj);
+   eo_manual_free_set(obj, EINA_FALSE);
+}
+
+START_TEST(eo_man_free)
+{
+   eo_init();
+
+   /* Usually should be const, not const only for the test... */
+   static Eo_Class_Description class_desc = {
+        "Simple2",
+        EO_CLASS_TYPE_REGULAR,
+        EO_CLASS_DESCRIPTION_OPS(NULL, NULL, 0),
+        NULL,
+        10,
+        _man_con,
+        _man_des,
+        NULL,
+        NULL
+   };
+
+   const Eo_Class *klass = eo_class_new(&class_desc, EO_BASE_CLASS, NULL);
+   fail_if(!klass);
+
+   Eo *obj = eo_add(klass, NULL);
+   fail_if(!obj);
+   eo_unref(obj);
+
+   obj = eo_add(klass, NULL);
+   fail_if(!obj);
+   eo_manual_free(obj);
+   eo_unref(obj);
+
+   class_desc.destructor = NULL;
+   klass = eo_class_new(&class_desc, EO_BASE_CLASS, NULL);
+   fail_if(!klass);
+
+   obj = eo_add(klass, NULL);
+   fail_if(!obj);
+   eo_manual_free(obj);
+   eo_unref(obj);
+
+   obj = eo_add(klass, NULL);
+   fail_if(!obj);
+   eo_unref(obj);
+   eo_manual_free(obj);
+
+   class_desc.constructor = NULL;
+   klass = eo_class_new(&class_desc, EO_BASE_CLASS, NULL);
+   fail_if(!klass);
+
+   obj = eo_add(klass, NULL);
+   fail_if(!obj);
+   eo_manual_free(obj);
+   eo_unref(obj);
+
+   eo_shutdown();
+}
+END_TEST
+
 START_TEST(eo_refs)
 {
    eo_init();
@@ -371,6 +441,11 @@ START_TEST(eo_magic_checks)
    eo_do(obj, eo_event_callback_forwarder_add(NULL, (Eo *) buf));
    eo_do(obj, eo_event_callback_forwarder_del(NULL, (Eo *) buf));
 
+   eo_manual_free_set((Eo *) buf, EINA_TRUE);
+   eo_manual_free((Eo *) buf);
+   eo_manual_free_set(NULL, EINA_TRUE);
+   eo_manual_free(NULL);
+
    eo_unref(obj);
 
    eo_shutdown();
@@ -386,4 +461,5 @@ void eo_test_general(TCase *tc)
    tcase_add_test(tc, eo_refs);
    tcase_add_test(tc, eo_magic_checks);
    tcase_add_test(tc, eo_data_fetch);
+   tcase_add_test(tc, eo_man_free);
 }