diff --git a/demo/MainWindow.cpp b/demo/MainWindow.cpp
index 2ebf052..f1d384b 100644
--- a/demo/MainWindow.cpp
+++ b/demo/MainWindow.cpp
@@ -724,6 +724,9 @@ CMainWindow::CMainWindow(QWidget *parent) :
 	// uncomment the following line if you don't want close button on DockArea's title bar
 	//CDockManager::setConfigFlag(CDockManager::DockAreaHasCloseButton, false);
 
+	// uncomment the following line if you don't want Auto Hide docks to be closeable
+	//CDockManager::setAutoHideConfigFlag(CDockManager::AutoHideDockAreaCloseable, false);
+
 	// uncomment the following line if you don't want undock button on DockArea's title bar
 	//CDockManager::setConfigFlag(CDockManager::DockAreaHasUndockButton, false);
 
diff --git a/examples/autohide/mainwindow.cpp b/examples/autohide/mainwindow.cpp
index d70b51c..3424257 100644
--- a/examples/autohide/mainwindow.cpp
+++ b/examples/autohide/mainwindow.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ CMainWindow::CMainWindow(QWidget *parent)
     CDockManager::setConfigFlag(CDockManager::XmlCompressionEnabled, false);
     CDockManager::setConfigFlag(CDockManager::FocusHighlighting, true);
     CDockManager::setAutoHideConfigFlags(CDockManager::DefaultAutoHideConfig);
+    CDockManager::setAutoHideConfigFlag(CDockManager::AutoHideDockAreaCloseable, false);
     DockManager = new CDockManager(this);
 
     // Set central widget
diff --git a/src/DockAreaTitleBar.cpp b/src/DockAreaTitleBar.cpp
index 919b130..2e342da 100644
--- a/src/DockAreaTitleBar.cpp
+++ b/src/DockAreaTitleBar.cpp
@@ -420,6 +420,11 @@ void CDockAreaTitleBar::onCloseButtonClicked()
 	{
 		d->DockArea->autoHideDockContainer()->collapseView(true);
 	}
+	//else if (!CDockManager::testAutoHideConfigFlag(CDockManager::AutoHideDockAreaCloseable) &&
+	//	d->DockArea->autoHideDockContainer()) 
+	//{
+	//	return;
+	//}
 	else if (d->testConfigFlag(CDockManager::DockAreaCloseButtonClosesTab))
 	{
 		d->TabBar->closeTab(d->TabBar->currentIndex());
diff --git a/src/DockAreaWidget.cpp b/src/DockAreaWidget.cpp
index 6a140bc..c8e984d 100644
--- a/src/DockAreaWidget.cpp
+++ b/src/DockAreaWidget.cpp
@@ -371,7 +371,8 @@ void DockAreaWidgetPrivate::updateTitleBarButtonStates()
 	}
 
 	TitleBar->button(TitleBarButtonClose)->setEnabled(
-		_this->features().testFlag(CDockWidget::DockWidgetClosable));
+		(_this->isAutoHide() ? CDockManager::testAutoHideConfigFlag(CDockManager::AutoHideDockAreaCloseable) : true)
+		&& _this->features().testFlag(CDockWidget::DockWidgetClosable));
 	TitleBar->button(TitleBarButtonUndock)->setEnabled(
 		_this->features().testFlag(CDockWidget::DockWidgetFloatable));
 	TitleBar->button(TitleBarButtonAutoHide)->setEnabled(
diff --git a/src/DockManager.h b/src/DockManager.h
index d24f632..b365bbd 100644
--- a/src/DockManager.h
+++ b/src/DockManager.h
@@ -250,10 +250,12 @@ public:
 		AutoHideSideBarsIconOnly = 0x10,///< show only icons in auto hide side tab - if a tab has no icon, then the text will be shown
 		AutoHideShowOnMouseOver = 0x20, ///< show the auto hide window on mouse over tab and hide it if mouse leaves auto hide container
 		AutoHideCloseButtonCollapsesDock = 0x40, ///< Close button of an auto hide container collapses the dock instead of hiding it completely
+		AutoHideDockAreaCloseable = 0x080,///< if this flag is set, the auto hide dock area can be closed.
 
 		DefaultAutoHideConfig = AutoHideFeatureEnabled
 			                  | DockAreaHasAutoHideButton
 			                  | AutoHideCloseButtonCollapsesDock
+		                      | AutoHideDockAreaCloseable
 
 	};
     Q_DECLARE_FLAGS(AutoHideFlags, eAutoHideFlag)