diff --git a/src/Ratchet/Wamp/Topic.php b/src/Ratchet/Wamp/Topic.php
index f1bd68a..3fe73d1 100644
--- a/src/Ratchet/Wamp/Topic.php
+++ b/src/Ratchet/Wamp/Topic.php
@@ -6,6 +6,13 @@ use Ratchet\ConnectionInterface;
  * A topic/channel containing connections that have subscribed to it
  */
 class Topic implements \IteratorAggregate, \Countable {
+    /**
+     * If true the TopicManager will destroy this object if it's ever empty of connections
+     * @deprecated in v0.4
+     * @type bool
+     */
+    public $autoDelete = false;
+
     private $id;
 
     private $subscribers;
diff --git a/src/Ratchet/Wamp/TopicManager.php b/src/Ratchet/Wamp/TopicManager.php
index a69e315..318b986 100644
--- a/src/Ratchet/Wamp/TopicManager.php
+++ b/src/Ratchet/Wamp/TopicManager.php
@@ -54,13 +54,12 @@ class TopicManager implements WsServerInterface, WampServerInterface {
     public function onUnsubscribe(ConnectionInterface $conn, $topic) {
         $topicObj = $this->getTopic($topic);
 
-        if ($conn->WAMP->subscriptions->contains($topicObj)) {
-            $conn->WAMP->subscriptions->detach($topicObj);
-        } else {
+        if (!$conn->WAMP->subscriptions->contains($topicObj)) {
             return;
         }
 
-        $this->topicLookup[$topic]->remove($conn);
+        $this->cleanTopic($topicObj, $conn);
+
         $this->app->onUnsubscribe($conn, $topicObj);
     }
 
@@ -77,11 +76,8 @@ class TopicManager implements WsServerInterface, WampServerInterface {
     public function onClose(ConnectionInterface $conn) {
         $this->app->onClose($conn);
 
-        foreach ($this->topicLookup as $topic => $storage) {
-            $storage->remove($conn);
-            if (0 === $storage->count()) {
-                unset($this->topicLookup[$topic]);
-            }
+        foreach ($this->topicLookup as $topic) {
+            $this->cleanTopic($topic, $conn);
         }
     }
 
@@ -114,4 +110,16 @@ class TopicManager implements WsServerInterface, WampServerInterface {
 
         return $this->topicLookup[$topic];
     }
+
+    protected function cleanTopic(Topic $topic, ConnectionInterface $conn) {
+        if ($conn->WAMP->subscriptions->contains($topic)) {
+            $conn->WAMP->subscriptions->detach($topic);
+        }
+
+        $this->topicLookup[$topic->getId()]->remove($conn);
+
+        if ($topic->autoDelete && 0 === $topic->count()) {
+            unset($this->topicLookup[$topic->getId()]);
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/unit/Wamp/TopicManagerTest.php b/tests/unit/Wamp/TopicManagerTest.php
index 7439064..79ff2ff 100644
--- a/tests/unit/Wamp/TopicManagerTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/Wamp/TopicManagerTest.php
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ class TopicManagerTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
         $attribute->setAccessible(true);
 
         $topic = $method->invokeArgs($this->mngr, array($name));
+        $topic->autoDelete = true;
 
         $this->assertCount(1, $attribute->getValue($this->mngr));