diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 651d885..65ec6bc 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -490,6 +490,13 @@ <h3>Methods</h3>
                 <pre class="prettyprint"><code>$('#my_popup').popup('toggle');</code></pre>
             </td>
         </tr>
+        <tr>
+            <td>.popup('destroy')</td>
+            <td>
+                <p>Removes elements and events created during popup initialization.</p>
+                <pre class="prettyprint"><code>$('#my_popup').popup('destroy');</code></pre>
+            </td>
+        </tr>
         </tbody>
         </table>
 
diff --git a/jquery.popupoverlay.js b/jquery.popupoverlay.js
index 5e1a740..b6d2603 100644
--- a/jquery.popupoverlay.js
+++ b/jquery.popupoverlay.js
@@ -150,6 +150,8 @@
                 if (options.transition) {
                     $background.css('transition', options.transition);
                 }
+
+                $el.data('popupBackground', $background);
             }
 
             if (options.type == 'overlay') {
@@ -221,14 +223,19 @@
             } else {
 
                 // Handler: Show popup when clicked on `open` element
-                $(document).on('click', openelement, function (event) {
+                var popupClickHandler = function (event) {
                     event.preventDefault();
 
                     var ord = $(this).data('popup-ordinal');
                     setTimeout(function() { // setTimeout is to allow `close` method to finish (for issues with multiple tooltips)
                         methods.show(el, ord);
                     }, 0);
-                });
+                };
+
+                $(document).on('click', openelement, popupClickHandler);
+
+                $el.data('popupOpenelement', openelement);
+                $el.data('popupClickHandler', popupClickHandler);
             }
 
             if (options.closebutton) {
@@ -242,6 +249,36 @@
             }
         },
 
+        /**
+         * Cleans up elements and event listeners
+         *
+         * @param {object} el - popup instance DOM node
+         */
+        destroy: function (el) {
+            var $el = $(el);
+            var options = $el.data('popupoptions');
+            var popupBackground = $el.data('popupBackground');
+            var openelement = $el.data('popupOpenelement');
+            var popupClickHandler = $el.data('popupClickHandler');
+            var $wrapper = $('#' + el.id + '_wrapper');
+
+            // remove background
+            if (popupBackground) {
+                popupBackground.remove();
+            }
+
+            // remove click listener
+            if (popupClickHandler) {
+                $(document).off('click', openelement, popupClickHandler);
+            }
+
+            // remove wrapper
+            $wrapper.remove();
+
+            // remove initialization marker to allow popup to be initialize again
+            $el.data('popup-initialized', false);
+        },
+
         /**
          * Show method
          *