diff --git a/targets/mega65/io_mapper.c b/targets/mega65/io_mapper.c
index d1c8178f..42e98fba 100644
--- a/targets/mega65/io_mapper.c
+++ b/targets/mega65/io_mapper.c
@@ -410,6 +410,7 @@ void io_write ( unsigned int addr, Uint8 data )
 				eth65_write_reg(addr, data);
 				return;
 			}
+			static int d6cf_exit_status = 0x42;
 			switch (addr) {
 				case 0x10:	// ASCII kbd last press value to zero whatever the written data would be
 					hwa_kbd_move_next_ascii();
@@ -453,16 +454,18 @@ void io_write ( unsigned int addr, Uint8 data )
 				case 0xCF:	// $D6CF - FPGA reconfiguration reg (if $42 is written). In testing mode, Xemu invents some new values here, though!
 					if (data == 0x42) {
 						if (configdb.testing) {	// in testing mode, writing $42 would mean to exit emulation!
+							if (!emu_exit_code)
+								emu_exit_code = d6cf_exit_status;
 							if (configdb.screenshot_and_exit)
 								vic4_registered_screenshot_request = 1;	// this will cause also to exit (as configdb.screenshot_and_exit is not NULL)
 							else
 								XEMUEXIT(0);
 							return;
-						}
-						if (ARE_YOU_SURE("FPGA reconfiguration request. System must be reset.\nIs it OK to do now?\nAnswering NO may crash your program requesting this task though,\nor can result in endless loop of trying.", ARE_YOU_SURE_DEFAULT_YES)) {
+						} else if (ARE_YOU_SURE("FPGA reconfiguration request. System must be reset.\nIs it OK to do now?\nAnswering NO may crash your program requesting this task though,\nor can result in endless loop of trying.", ARE_YOU_SURE_DEFAULT_YES)) {
 							reset_mega65();
 						}
 					}
+					d6cf_exit_status = data;
 					return;
 				default:
 					DEBUG("MEGA65: this I/O port is not emulated in Xemu yet: $D6%02X (tried to be written with $%02X)" NL, addr, data);
diff --git a/xemu/emutools.c b/xemu/emutools.c
index aacb2477..425e512f 100644
--- a/xemu/emutools.c
+++ b/xemu/emutools.c
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ const char *str_are_you_sure_to_exit = "Are you sure to exit Xemu?";
 
 char **xemu_initial_argv = NULL;
 int    xemu_initial_argc = -1;
+int emu_exit_code = 0;
 Uint64 buildinfo_cdate_uts = 0;
 const char *xemu_initial_cwd = NULL;
 SDL_Window   *sdl_win = NULL;
@@ -96,6 +97,7 @@ int texture_x_size_in_bytes;
 int emu_is_fullscreen = 0;
 int emu_is_headless = 0;
 int emu_is_sleepless = 0;
+int dialogs_allowed = 1;
 static int win_xsize, win_ysize;
 char *sdl_pref_dir = NULL, *sdl_base_dir = NULL, *sdl_inst_dir = NULL;
 Uint32 sdl_winid;
@@ -1008,6 +1010,10 @@ int xemu_post_init (
 	int locked_texture_update,		// use locked texture method [non zero], or malloc'ed stuff [zero]. NOTE: locked access doesn't allow to _READ_ pixels and you must fill ALL pixels!
 	void (*shutdown_callback)(void)		// callback function called on exit (can be nULL to not have any emulator specific stuff)
 ) {
+	if (emu_is_headless) {
+		dialogs_allowed = 0;
+		i_am_sure_override = 1;
+	}
 	srand((unsigned int)time(NULL));
 	if (!debug_fp)
 		xemu_init_debug(getenv("XEMU_DEBUG_FILE"));
@@ -1321,7 +1327,7 @@ int ARE_YOU_SURE ( const char *s, int flags )
 int _sdl_emu_secured_modal_box_ ( const char *items_in, const char *msg )
 {
 	char items_buf[512], *items = items_buf;
-	int buttonid;
+	int buttonid = 0;
 	SDL_MessageBoxButtonData buttons[16];
 	SDL_MessageBoxData messageboxdata = {
 		SDL_MESSAGEBOX_WARNING	// .flags
@@ -1344,6 +1350,7 @@ int _sdl_emu_secured_modal_box_ ( const char *items_in, const char *msg )
 		switch (*items) {
 			case '!':
 				buttons[messageboxdata.numbuttons].flags = SDL_MESSAGEBOX_BUTTON_RETURNKEY_DEFAULT;
+				buttonid = messageboxdata.numbuttons;
 				items++;
 				break;
 			case '?':
@@ -1352,6 +1359,7 @@ int _sdl_emu_secured_modal_box_ ( const char *items_in, const char *msg )
 				break;
 			case '*':
 				buttons[messageboxdata.numbuttons].flags = SDL_MESSAGEBOX_BUTTON_ESCAPEKEY_DEFAULT | SDL_MESSAGEBOX_BUTTON_RETURNKEY_DEFAULT;
+				buttonid = messageboxdata.numbuttons;
 				items++;
 				break;
 			default:
@@ -1372,13 +1380,16 @@ int _sdl_emu_secured_modal_box_ ( const char *items_in, const char *msg )
 		*p = 0;
 		items = p + 1;
 	}
-	save_mouse_grab();
-	SDL_ShowMessageBox_custom(&messageboxdata, &buttonid);
-	xemu_drop_events();
-	clear_emu_events();
-	SDL_RaiseWindow(sdl_win);
-	restore_mouse_grab();
-	xemu_timekeeping_start();
+	if (dialogs_allowed) {
+		save_mouse_grab();
+		SDL_ShowMessageBox_custom(&messageboxdata, &buttonid);
+		xemu_drop_events();
+		clear_emu_events();
+		SDL_RaiseWindow(sdl_win);
+		restore_mouse_grab();
+		xemu_timekeeping_start();
+	} else
+		DEBUGPRINT("UI: returning #%d (%s) for choice in dialog box, as dialogs are NOT allowed!" NL, buttonid, buttons[buttonid].text);
 	return buttonid;
 }
 
diff --git a/xemu/emutools.h b/xemu/emutools.h
index 6dfd02b7..15f534ac 100644
--- a/xemu/emutools.h
+++ b/xemu/emutools.h
@@ -88,22 +88,26 @@ static XEMU_INLINE int CHECK_SNPRINTF( int ret, int limit )
 	return 0;
 }
 
+extern int dialogs_allowed;
+
 #define _REPORT_WINDOW_(sdlflag, str, ...) do { \
 	char _buf_for_win_msg_[4096]; \
 	CHECK_SNPRINTF(snprintf(_buf_for_win_msg_, sizeof _buf_for_win_msg_, __VA_ARGS__), sizeof _buf_for_win_msg_); \
 	fprintf(stderr, str ": %s" NL, _buf_for_win_msg_); \
 	if (debug_fp)	\
 		fprintf(debug_fp, str ": %s" NL, _buf_for_win_msg_);	\
-	if (sdl_win) { \
-		save_mouse_grab(); \
-		MSG_POPUP_WINDOW(sdlflag, sdl_window_title, _buf_for_win_msg_, sdl_win); \
-		clear_emu_events(); \
-		xemu_drop_events(); \
-		SDL_RaiseWindow(sdl_win); \
-		restore_mouse_grab(); \
-		xemu_timekeeping_start(); \
-	} else \
-		MSG_POPUP_WINDOW(sdlflag, sdl_window_title, _buf_for_win_msg_, sdl_win); \
+	if (dialogs_allowed) {	\
+		if (sdl_win) {	\
+			save_mouse_grab(); \
+			MSG_POPUP_WINDOW(sdlflag, sdl_window_title, _buf_for_win_msg_, sdl_win); \
+			clear_emu_events(); \
+			xemu_drop_events(); \
+			SDL_RaiseWindow(sdl_win); \
+			restore_mouse_grab(); \
+			xemu_timekeeping_start(); \
+		} else \
+			MSG_POPUP_WINDOW(sdlflag, sdl_window_title, _buf_for_win_msg_, sdl_win); \
+	}	\
 } while (0)
 
 #define INFO_WINDOW(...)	_REPORT_WINDOW_(SDL_MESSAGEBOX_INFORMATION, "INFO", __VA_ARGS__)
diff --git a/xemu/emutools_basicdefs.h b/xemu/emutools_basicdefs.h
index 77b6496e..8bfac832 100644
--- a/xemu/emutools_basicdefs.h
+++ b/xemu/emutools_basicdefs.h
@@ -238,12 +238,19 @@ static inline int xemu_byte_order_test ( void )
 	return (r.b.l != ENDIAN_CHECKER_BYTE_L || r.b.h != ENDIAN_CHECKER_BYTE_H || r.w.w != ENDIAN_CHECKER_WORD || r.d != ENDIAN_CHECKER_DWORD);
 }
 
+extern int emu_exit_code;
+
+static inline int _get_emu_exit_code ( const int input )
+{
+	return input ? input : emu_exit_code;
+}
+
 #ifdef __EMSCRIPTEN__
 #include <emscripten.h>
-#define XEMUEXIT(n)	do { emscripten_cancel_main_loop(); emscripten_force_exit(n); exit(n); } while (0)
+#define XEMUEXIT(n)	do { const int e = _get_emu_exit_code(n); emscripten_cancel_main_loop(); emscripten_force_exit(e); exit(e); } while (0)
 #else
 #include <stdlib.h>
-#define XEMUEXIT(n)	exit(n)
+#define XEMUEXIT(n)	exit(_get_emu_exit_code(n))
 #endif
 
 #define BOOLEAN_VALUE(n)	(!!(n))
diff --git a/xemu/emutools_gui.c b/xemu/emutools_gui.c
index 6b7121a0..ee34028d 100644
--- a/xemu/emutools_gui.c
+++ b/xemu/emutools_gui.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /* Part of the Xemu project, please visit: https://github.com/lgblgblgb/xemu
-   Copyright (C)2016,2019-2022 LGB (Gábor Lénárt) <lgblgblgb@gmail.com>
+   Copyright (C)2016-2023 LGB (Gábor Lénárt) <lgblgblgb@gmail.com>
 
 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -92,11 +92,15 @@ static const struct xemugui_descriptor_st *xemugui_descriptor_list[] = {
 
 int xemugui_init ( const char *name )
 {
-	char avail[256];	// "should be enough" (yeah, I know, the 640K ...) for some names ...
-	avail[0] = 0;
 	is_xemugui_ok = 0;
 	if (name && name[0] == '\0')	// make sure that empty string means the same as NULL pointer passed
 		name = NULL;
+	if (emu_is_headless) {
+		name = xemunullgui_descriptor.name;
+		DEBUGPRINT("GUI: forcing \"%s\" because of headless mode" NL, name);
+	}
+	char avail[256];	// "should be enough" (yeah, I know, the 640K ...) for some names ...
+	avail[0] = 0;
 	for (int a = 0 ;; a++) {
 		strcat(avail, " ");
 		strcat(avail, xemugui_descriptor_list[a]->name);
diff --git a/xemu/emutools_gui.h b/xemu/emutools_gui.h
index b02d8314..4cc2a0bc 100644
--- a/xemu/emutools_gui.h
+++ b/xemu/emutools_gui.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /* Part of the Xemu project, please visit: https://github.com/lgblgblgb/xemu
-   Copyright (C)2016-2022 LGB (Gábor Lénárt) <lgblgblgb@gmail.com>
+   Copyright (C)2016-2023 LGB (Gábor Lénárt) <lgblgblgb@gmail.com>
 
 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by