diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/meta.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/meta.py
index b204e08bed..cbd9db3f04 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/meta.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/meta.py
@@ -142,13 +142,7 @@ def metadata_from_filename(name, pat=None):
     name = name.rpartition('.')[0]
     mi = MetaInformation(None, None)
     if pat is None:
-        pat_re = prefs.get('filename_pattern')
-        if isinstance(pat_re, list):
-            if pat_re:
-                pat_re = pat_re[0]
-            else:
-                pat_re = ''
-        pat = re.compile(pat_re)
+        pat = re.compile(prefs.get('filename_pattern'))
     name = name.replace('_', ' ')
     match = pat.search(name)
     if match is not None:
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/widgets.py b/src/calibre/gui2/widgets.py
index a433a6e5d7..6380eab0b2 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/widgets.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/widgets.py
@@ -71,17 +71,27 @@ class FilenamePattern(QWidget, Ui_Form):
         self.re.lineEdit().textChanged.connect(lambda x: self.changed_signal.emit())
 
     def initialize(self, defaults=False):
+        # Get all itmes in the combobox. If we are resting
+        # to defaults we don't want to lose what the user
+        # has added.
+        val_hist = [unicode(self.re.lineEdit().text())] + [unicode(self.re.itemText(i)) for i in xrange(self.re.count())]
+        self.re.clear()
+        
         if defaults:
             val = prefs.defaults['filename_pattern']
         else:
             val = prefs['filename_pattern']
-        if isinstance(val, list):
-            if len(val) > 0:
-                for v in val:
-                    self.re.addItem(v)
-                self.re.setCurrentIndex(0)
-        else:
-            self.re.lineEdit().setText(val if val else '')
+        self.re.lineEdit().setText(val)
+        
+        val_hist += gprefs.get('filename_pattern_history', ['(?P<title>.+)', '(?P<author>[^_-]+) -?\s*(?P<series>[^_0-9-]*)(?P<series_index>[0-9]*)\s*-\s*(?P<title>[^_].+) ?'])
+        if val in val_hist:
+            del val_hist[val_hist.index(val)]
+        val_hist.insert(0, val)
+        for v in val_hist:
+            # Ensure we don't have duplicate items.
+            if v and self.re.findText(v) == -1:
+                self.re.addItem(v)
+        self.re.setCurrentIndex(0)
 
     def do_test(self):
         try:
@@ -118,12 +128,17 @@ class FilenamePattern(QWidget, Ui_Form):
         return re.compile(pat)
 
     def commit(self):
-        pat = []
-        patterns = [unicode(self.re.lineEdit().text())] + [unicode(self.re.itemText(i)) for i in xrange(self.re.count())]
-        for p in patterns[:14]:
-            if p not in pat:
-                pat.append(p)
-        prefs['filename_pattern'] = pat 
+        pat = self.pattern().pattern
+        prefs['filename_pattern'] = pat
+        
+        history = []
+        history_pats = [unicode(self.re.lineEdit().text())] + [unicode(self.re.itemText(i)) for i in xrange(self.re.count())]
+        for p in history_pats[:14]:
+            # Ensure we don't have duplicate items.
+            if p and p not in history:
+                history.append(p)
+        gprefs['filename_pattern_history'] = history 
+        
         return pat