diff -Naur kdelibs-4.1.72/kdecore/config/kconfig.cpp kdelibs-4.1.72.no-cache-kdeglobals-path/kdecore/config/kconfig.cpp
--- kdelibs-4.1.72/kdecore/config/kconfig.cpp	2008-10-23 01:05:09.000000000 +0200
+++ kdelibs-4.1.72.no-cache-kdeglobals-path/kdecore/config/kconfig.cpp	2008-11-10 17:38:33.000000000 +0100
@@ -61,12 +61,6 @@
 {
     sGlobalFileName = componentData.dirs()->saveLocation("config") +
                           QString::fromLatin1("kdeglobals");
-    if (wantGlobals()) {
-        const KStandardDirs *const dirs = componentData.dirs();
-        foreach(const QString& dir, dirs->findAllResources("config", QLatin1String("kdeglobals")) +
-                                    dirs->findAllResources("config", QLatin1String("system.kdeglobals")))
-            globalFiles.push_front(dir);
-    }
     const QString etc_kderc =
 #ifdef Q_WS_WIN
         QFile::decodeName( qgetenv("WINDIR") + "/kde4rc" );
@@ -76,15 +70,11 @@
     KEntryMap tmp;
     // first entry is always /etc/kderc or empty if cannot read
     if (KStandardDirs::checkAccess(etc_kderc, R_OK)) {
-        if (!globalFiles.contains(etc_kderc))
-            globalFiles.push_front(etc_kderc);
-
         if (!mappingsRegistered) {
             KSharedPtr<KConfigBackend> backend = KConfigBackend::create(componentData, etc_kderc, QLatin1String("INI"));
             backend->parseConfig( "en_US", tmp, KConfigBackend::ParseDefaults);
         }
     } else {
-        globalFiles.push_front(QString());
         mappingsRegistered = true;
     }
 
@@ -461,10 +451,31 @@
 
 void KConfigPrivate::parseGlobalFiles()
 {
+    QStringList globalFiles;
+
+    if (wantGlobals()) {
+        const KStandardDirs *const dirs = componentData.dirs();
+        foreach(const QString& dir, dirs->findAllResources("config", QLatin1String("kdeglobals")) +
+                                    dirs->findAllResources("config", QLatin1String("system.kdeglobals")))
+            globalFiles.push_front(dir);
+    }
+    const QString etc_kderc =
+#ifdef Q_WS_WIN
+        QFile::decodeName( QByteArray(::getenv("WINDIR")) + "\\kde4rc" );
+#else
+        QLatin1String("/etc/kde4rc");
+#endif
+    KEntryMap tmp;
+    // first entry is always /etc/kderc or empty if cannot read
+    if (KStandardDirs::checkAccess(etc_kderc, R_OK)) {
+        if (!globalFiles.contains(etc_kderc))
+            globalFiles.push_front(etc_kderc);
+    } else {
+        globalFiles.push_front(QString());
+    }
+
 //    qDebug() << "parsing global files" << globalFiles;
 
-    // TODO: can we cache the values in etc_kderc / other global files
-    //       on a per-application basis?
     const QByteArray utf8Locale = locale.toUtf8();
     foreach(const QString& file, globalFiles) {
         KConfigBackend::ParseOptions parseOpts = KConfigBackend::ParseGlobal|KConfigBackend::ParseExpansions;
diff -Naur kdelibs-4.1.72/kdecore/config/kconfig_p.h kdelibs-4.1.72.no-cache-kdeglobals-path/kdecore/config/kconfig_p.h
--- kdelibs-4.1.72/kdecore/config/kconfig_p.h	2008-06-03 11:34:54.000000000 +0200
+++ kdelibs-4.1.72.no-cache-kdeglobals-path/kdecore/config/kconfig_p.h	2008-11-10 17:38:33.000000000 +0100
@@ -86,7 +86,6 @@
 
     KEntryMap entryMap;
     QString backendType;
-    QStringList globalFiles;
     QStack<QString> extraFiles;
 
     QString locale;