diff --git a/src/PreferencesDialog.cpp b/src/PreferencesDialog.cpp
index b0d3be36..58d0dcea 100644
--- a/src/PreferencesDialog.cpp
+++ b/src/PreferencesDialog.cpp
@@ -52,6 +52,11 @@ void PreferencesDialog::encodingChanged( int which )
     }
 }
 
+void PreferencesDialog::foreignkeysStateChanged(int state)
+{
+    foreignkeys = state > 0;
+}
+
 void PreferencesDialog::chooseLocation()
 {
     QString s = QFileDialog::getExistingDirectory(
@@ -76,6 +81,7 @@ void PreferencesDialog::loadSettings()
     defaultnewdata = settings.value( "/db/defaultnewdata", "NULL" ).toString();
     defaultlocation = settings.value( "/db/defaultlocation", QDir::homePath() ).toString();
     defaulttext = settings.value( "/db/defaulttext", "Plain" ).toString();
+    foreignkeys = settings.value( "/db/foreignkeys", true ).toBool();
 
     if (defaultencoding=="Latin1")
     {
@@ -103,6 +109,8 @@ void PreferencesDialog::loadSettings()
 	ui->defaultTextComboBox->setCurrentIndex(0) ;
         defaulttext = QString("Plain");
     }
+
+    ui->foreignKeysCheckBox->setChecked(foreignkeys);
     
     ui->locationEdit->setText(defaultlocation);
 }
@@ -115,6 +123,7 @@ void PreferencesDialog::saveSettings()
     settings.setValue( "/db/defaultnewdata", defaultnewdata );
     settings.setValue( "/db/defaultlocation", defaultlocation  );
     settings.setValue( "/db/defaulttext", defaulttext  );
+    settings.setValue( "/db/foreignkeys", foreignkeys );
     settings.sync();
     accept();
 }
diff --git a/src/PreferencesDialog.h b/src/PreferencesDialog.h
index c51fad2b..264aed00 100644
--- a/src/PreferencesDialog.h
+++ b/src/PreferencesDialog.h
@@ -19,11 +19,13 @@ public:
     QString defaultlocation;
     QString defaultnewdata;
     QString defaultencoding;
+    bool foreignkeys;
 
 private slots:
     virtual void defaultDataChanged( int which );
     virtual void defaultTextChanged( int which );
     virtual void encodingChanged( int which );
+    virtual void foreignkeysStateChanged( int state );
     virtual void chooseLocation();
     virtual void loadSettings();
     virtual void saveSettings();
diff --git a/src/PreferencesDialog.ui b/src/PreferencesDialog.ui
index 8db6c8bd..90e0add3 100644
--- a/src/PreferencesDialog.ui
+++ b/src/PreferencesDialog.ui
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
     <x>0</x>
     <y>0</y>
     <width>492</width>
-    <height>145</height>
+    <height>219</height>
    </rect>
   </property>
   <property name="windowTitle">
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@
        </item>
       </widget>
      </item>
-     <item row="3" column="0">
+     <item row="4" column="0">
       <widget class="QLabel" name="label_4">
        <property name="text">
         <string>Default location</string>
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@
        </property>
       </widget>
      </item>
-     <item row="3" column="1">
+     <item row="4" column="1">
       <layout class="QHBoxLayout" name="horizontalLayout">
        <item>
         <widget class="QLineEdit" name="locationEdit">
@@ -127,6 +127,26 @@
        </item>
       </widget>
      </item>
+     <item row="3" column="0">
+      <widget class="QLabel" name="label_5">
+       <property name="toolTip">
+        <string>Open databases with foreign keys enabled.</string>
+       </property>
+       <property name="text">
+        <string>Foreign keys</string>
+       </property>
+       <property name="buddy">
+        <cstring>foreignKeysCheckBox</cstring>
+       </property>
+      </widget>
+     </item>
+     <item row="3" column="1">
+      <widget class="QCheckBox" name="foreignKeysCheckBox">
+       <property name="text">
+        <string>enabled</string>
+       </property>
+      </widget>
+     </item>
     </layout>
    </item>
    <item>
@@ -247,6 +267,22 @@
     </hint>
    </hints>
   </connection>
+  <connection>
+   <sender>foreignKeysCheckBox</sender>
+   <signal>stateChanged(int)</signal>
+   <receiver>PreferencesDialog</receiver>
+   <slot>foreignkeysStateChanged(int)</slot>
+   <hints>
+    <hint type="sourcelabel">
+     <x>213</x>
+     <y>113</y>
+    </hint>
+    <hint type="destinationlabel">
+     <x>245</x>
+     <y>109</y>
+    </hint>
+   </hints>
+  </connection>
  </connections>
  <slots>
   <slot>saveSettings()</slot>
@@ -254,5 +290,6 @@
   <slot>encodingChanged(int)</slot>
   <slot>chooseLocation()</slot>
   <slot>defaultTextChanged(int)</slot>
+  <slot>foreignkeysStateChanged(int)</slot>
  </slots>
 </ui>
diff --git a/src/sqlitedb.cpp b/src/sqlitedb.cpp
index 4f92930e..0f0649dc 100644
--- a/src/sqlitedb.cpp
+++ b/src/sqlitedb.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include <QProgressDialog>
 #include <QApplication>
 #include <QTextStream>
+#include <QSettings>
 
 void DBBrowserObject::addField(int order, const QString& wfield,const QString& wtype)
 {
@@ -97,6 +98,12 @@ bool DBBrowserDB::open ( const QString & db)
     }
 
     if (_db){
+        // set preference defaults
+        QSettings settings(QApplication::organizationName(), QApplication::organizationName());
+        settings.sync();
+        bool foreignkeys = settings.value( "/db/foreignkeys", false ).toBool();
+        setPragma("foreign_keys", foreignkeys ? "1" : "0");
+
         if (SQLITE_OK==sqlite3_exec(_db,"PRAGMA empty_result_callbacks = ON;",
                                     NULL,NULL,NULL)){
             if (SQLITE_OK==sqlite3_exec(_db,"PRAGMA show_datatypes = ON;",