diff --git a/common/pybindings.cc b/common/pybindings.cc
index 556e838e..7a542dc1 100644
--- a/common/pybindings.cc
+++ b/common/pybindings.cc
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "design.h"
 #include "chip.h"
 #include "pybindings.h"
+#include "emb.h"
 
 // Required to determine concatenated module name (which differs for different archs)
 #define PASTER(x, y) x ## _ ## y
@@ -36,43 +37,52 @@
 void arch_wrap_python();
 
 BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE (MODULE_NAME) {
-    arch_wrap_python();
+	arch_wrap_python();
 }
 
-void arch_appendinittab()
-{
-    PyImport_AppendInittab(TOSTRING(MODULE_NAME), PYINIT_MODULE_NAME);
+void arch_appendinittab() {
+	PyImport_AppendInittab(TOSTRING(MODULE_NAME), PYINIT_MODULE_NAME);
 }
 
-void execute_python_file(const char *executable, const char* python_file)
-{
-    wchar_t *program = Py_DecodeLocale(executable, NULL);
-    if (program == NULL) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Fatal error: cannot decode executable filename\n");
-        exit(1);
-    }
-    try 
-    {		
-        PyImport_AppendInittab(TOSTRING(MODULE_NAME), PYINIT_MODULE_NAME);
-        Py_SetProgramName(program);
-        Py_Initialize();
+static wchar_t *program;
 
-        FILE* fp = fopen(python_file, "r");	
-        if (fp == NULL) {
-            fprintf(stderr, "Fatal error: file not found %s\n",python_file);
-            exit(1);
-        }
-        PyRun_SimpleFile(fp , python_file);
-        fclose(fp);
-
-        Py_Finalize();
-        PyMem_RawFree(program);
-    } 
-    catch(boost::python::error_already_set const &)
-    {
-        // Parse and output the exception
-        std::string perror_str = parse_python_exception();
-        std::cout << "Error in Python: " << perror_str << std::endl;
-    }
+void init_python(const char *executable) {
+	program = Py_DecodeLocale(executable, NULL);
+	if (program == NULL) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Fatal error: cannot decode executable filename\n");
+		exit(1);
+	}
+	try {
+		PyImport_AppendInittab(TOSTRING(MODULE_NAME), PYINIT_MODULE_NAME);
+		emb::append_inittab();
+		Py_SetProgramName(program);
+		Py_Initialize();
+	} catch (boost::python::error_already_set const &) {
+		// Parse and output the exception
+		std::string perror_str = parse_python_exception();
+		std::cout << "Error in Python: " << perror_str << std::endl;
+	}
+}
+
+void deinit_python() {
+	Py_Finalize();
+	PyMem_RawFree(program);
+}
+
+void execute_python_file(const char *python_file) {
+	try {
+		FILE *fp = fopen(python_file, "r");
+		if (fp == NULL) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "Fatal error: file not found %s\n", python_file);
+			exit(1);
+		}
+		PyRun_SimpleFile(fp, python_file);
+		fclose(fp);
+	}
+	catch (boost::python::error_already_set const &) {
+		// Parse and output the exception
+		std::string perror_str = parse_python_exception();
+		std::cout << "Error in Python: " << perror_str << std::endl;
+	}
 }
 
diff --git a/common/pybindings.h b/common/pybindings.h
index f594784c..84280908 100644
--- a/common/pybindings.h
+++ b/common/pybindings.h
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 #include <boost/python/suite/indexing/vector_indexing_suite.hpp>
 #include <boost/python/suite/indexing/map_indexing_suite.hpp>
 #include <boost/python/suite/indexing/map_indexing_suite.hpp>
-
 using namespace boost::python;
 /*
 A wrapper for a Pythonised nextpnr Iterator. The actual class wrapped is a
@@ -79,7 +78,10 @@ struct range_wrapper {
 
 #define WRAP_RANGE(t) range_wrapper<t##Range>().wrap(#t "Range", #t "Iterator")
 
-void execute_python_file(const char *executable, const char* python_file);
+void init_python(const char *executable);
+void deinit_python();
+
+void execute_python_file(const char* python_file);
 std::string parse_python_exception();
 void arch_appendinittab();
 
diff --git a/gui/mainwindow.cc b/gui/mainwindow.cc
index 4404fc5a..b72a0851 100644
--- a/gui/mainwindow.cc
+++ b/gui/mainwindow.cc
@@ -11,9 +11,6 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent) :
     ui(new Ui::MainWindow)
 {
     ui->setupUi(this);
-    emb::append_inittab();
-    arch_appendinittab();
-    Py_Initialize();
     PyImport_ImportModule("emb");
     
     write = [this] (std::string s) {
@@ -27,7 +24,6 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent) :
 
 MainWindow::~MainWindow()
 {
-    Py_Finalize();
     delete ui;
 }
 
diff --git a/ice40/main.cc b/ice40/main.cc
index 9295bde4..3d3312c4 100644
--- a/ice40/main.cc
+++ b/ice40/main.cc
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ void svg_dump_el(const GraphicElement &el)
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
 	namespace po = boost::program_options;
-
+	int rc = 0;
 	std::string str;
 
 	po::options_description options("Allowed options");
@@ -122,15 +122,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		chipArgs.type = ChipArgs::UP5K;
 
 	Design design(chipArgs);
-
-	if (vm.count("gui")) 
-	{
-		QApplication a(argc, argv);
-		MainWindow w;
-		w.show();
-
-		return a.exec();
-	}
+	init_python(argv[0]);
 
 	if (vm.count("test"))
 	{
@@ -216,8 +208,17 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	if (vm.count("file")) 
 	{
 		std::string filename = vm["file"].as<std::string>();
-		execute_python_file(argv[0],filename.c_str());
-	}	
-	
-	return 0;
+		execute_python_file(filename.c_str());
+	}
+
+	if (vm.count("gui"))
+	{
+		QApplication a(argc, argv);
+		MainWindow w;
+		w.show();
+
+		rc = a.exec();
+	}
+	deinit_python();
+	return rc;
 }
diff --git a/python/functions.py b/python/functions.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4f005456
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/functions.py
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+def test_function():
+    print("Hello World!")