diff --git a/nifskope.cpp b/nifskope.cpp
index 9ecf6607..89c75860 100644
--- a/nifskope.cpp
+++ b/nifskope.cpp
@@ -101,6 +101,27 @@ FSManager * fsmanager = 0;
 
 //! \file nifskope.cpp The main file for NifSkope
 
+void NifSkope::migrateSettings() const
+{
+	// load current nifskope settings
+	NIFSKOPE_QSETTINGS(cfg);
+	// check if we are running a new version of nifskope
+	if(cfg.value("version").toString() != NIFSKOPE_VERSION) {
+		// check all keys and delete all binary ones
+		//to prevent portability problems between Qt versions
+		QStringList keys = cfg.allKeys();
+		for (QStringList::ConstIterator key = keys.begin(); key != keys.end(); ++key) {
+			if (cfg.value(*key).type() == QVariant::ByteArray) {
+				qDebug() << "removing config setting" << *key
+				         << "whilst migrating settings from previous nifskope version";
+				cfg.remove(*key);
+			}
+		}
+		// set version key to current version
+		cfg.setValue("version", NIFSKOPE_VERSION);
+	}
+}
+
 /*
  * main GUI window
  */
@@ -116,6 +137,9 @@ NifSkope::NifSkope()
 	// init UI parts
 	aboutDialog = new AboutDialog(this);
 
+	// migrate settings from older versions of NifSkope
+	migrateSettings();
+
 	// create a new nif
 	nif = new NifModel( this );
 	connect( nif, SIGNAL( sigMessage( const Message & ) ), this, SLOT( dispatchMessage( const Message & ) ) );
diff --git a/nifskope.h b/nifskope.h
index 65dc85ea..2bf73162 100644
--- a/nifskope.h
+++ b/nifskope.h
@@ -188,12 +188,6 @@ protected slots:
 	
 	void setViewFont( const QFont & );
 
-	//! Copy settings from one config to another, without overwriting keys.
-	/*!
-	 * This is a helper function for migrateSettings().
-	 */
-	void copySettings(QSettings & cfg, const QSettings & oldcfg, const QString name) const;
-
 	//! Migrate settings from older versions of nifskope.
 	void migrateSettings() const;