diff --git a/doxygen/external-renderer.dox b/doxygen/external-renderer.dox
index 5059e79..ef0333e 100644
--- a/doxygen/external-renderer.dox
+++ b/doxygen/external-renderer.dox
@@ -22,5 +22,6 @@
  * @ref EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_RENDER_FUNCTION	| int EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_RENDER_FUNCTION(struct gds_cell *toplevel, GList *layer_info_list, const char *output_file_name, double scale)		| Render cell to output file
  * @ref EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_INIT_FUNCTION		| int EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_INIT_FUNCTION(const char *option_string, const char *version_string)							| Init function. Executed before rendering. This is given the command line parameters specified for the external renderer and the version string of the currently running gds-render program.
  * @ref EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_FORK_REQUEST		| int EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_FORK_REQUEST;														| The pure presence of this integer results in the execution inside a subprocess of hte whole shared object's code
+ * @ref EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_FINALIZE_FUNCTION | int EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_FINALIZE_FUNCTION(void) | Called after rendering
  *
  */
diff --git a/include/gds-render/output-renderers/external-renderer-interfaces.h b/include/gds-render/output-renderers/external-renderer-interfaces.h
index 509d029..97cdc81 100644
--- a/include/gds-render/output-renderers/external-renderer-interfaces.h
+++ b/include/gds-render/output-renderers/external-renderer-interfaces.h
@@ -32,6 +32,15 @@
  */
 #define EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_INIT_FUNCTION exported_init
 
+/**
+ * @brief Function name expected to be found in external library for finalizing.
+ *
+ * @code
+ * int EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_FINALIZE_FUNCTION(void);
+ * @endcode
+ */
+#define EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_FINALIZE_FUNCTION exported_finalize
+
 /**
  * @brief Global integer specified by an external renderer to signal, that the init and render functions shall be executed in a subprocess
  *
diff --git a/output-renderers/external-renderer.c b/output-renderers/external-renderer.c
index f79edb8..413c3c6 100644
--- a/output-renderers/external-renderer.c
+++ b/output-renderers/external-renderer.c
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ static int external_renderer_render_cell(struct gds_cell *toplevel_cell, GList *
 {
 	int (*so_render_func)(struct gds_cell *, GList *, const char *, double) = NULL;
 	int (*so_init_func)(const char *, const char *) = NULL;
+	int (*so_finalize_func)(void) = NULL;
 	void *so_handle = NULL;
 	char *error_msg;
 	int forking_req;
@@ -93,7 +94,7 @@ static int external_renderer_render_cell(struct gds_cell *toplevel_cell, GList *
 	so_render_func = (int (*)(struct gds_cell *, GList *, const char *, double))
 				dlsym(so_handle, xstr(EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_RENDER_FUNCTION));
 	error_msg = dlerror();
-	if (error_msg != NULL) {
+	if (error_msg) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "Rendering function not found in library:\n%s\n", error_msg);
 		goto ret_close_so_handle;
 	}
@@ -101,11 +102,19 @@ static int external_renderer_render_cell(struct gds_cell *toplevel_cell, GList *
 	/* Load the init function */
 	so_init_func = (int (*)(const char *, const char *))dlsym(so_handle, xstr(EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_INIT_FUNCTION));
 	error_msg = dlerror();
-	if (error_msg != NULL) {
+	if (error_msg) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "Rendering function not found in library:\n%s\n", error_msg);
 		goto ret_close_so_handle;
 	}
 
+	/* Load the finalize function */
+	so_finalize_func = (int (*)(void))dlsym(so_handle, xstr(EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_FINALIZE_FUNCTION));
+	error_msg = dlerror();
+	if (error_msg) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Finalize function not found in library:\n%s\n", error_msg);
+		goto ret_close_so_handle;
+	}
+
 	/* Check if forking is requested */
 	if (dlsym(so_handle, xstr(EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_FORK_REQUEST)))
 		forking_req = 1;
@@ -127,6 +136,9 @@ static int external_renderer_render_cell(struct gds_cell *toplevel_cell, GList *
 	if (!ret)
 		ret = so_render_func(toplevel_cell, layer_info_list, output_file, scale);
 
+	/* Finalize the external renderer */
+	ret |= so_finalize_func();
+
 	/* If we are in a separate process, terminate here */
 	if (forking_req)
 		exit(ret);
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-example/src/plugin-main.c b/plugins/plugin-example/src/plugin-main.c
index 829daea..2cabe62 100644
--- a/plugins/plugin-example/src/plugin-main.c
+++ b/plugins/plugin-example/src/plugin-main.c
@@ -17,3 +17,8 @@ int FUNC_DECL(EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_INIT_FUNCTION)(const char *params, const char *ve
 	printf("Init with params: %s\ngds-render version: %s\n", params, version);
 	return 0;
 }
+
+int FUNC_DECL(EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_FINALIZE_FUNCTION)(void)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/plugins/python-renderer/src/plugin-main.c b/plugins/python-renderer/src/plugin-main.c
index 829daea..bdbe1bf 100644
--- a/plugins/python-renderer/src/plugin-main.c
+++ b/plugins/python-renderer/src/plugin-main.c
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <glib.h>
+#include <Python.h>
+
 #include <gds-render/gds-utils/gds-types.h>
 #include <gds-render/output-renderers/external-renderer-interfaces.h>
 
@@ -14,6 +16,11 @@ int FUNC_DECL(EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_RENDER_FUNCTION)(struct gds_cell *toplevel, GList
 
 int FUNC_DECL(EXTERNAL_LIBRARY_INIT_FUNCTION)(const char *params, const char *version)
 {
+	PyObject *p_module_name;
+
 	printf("Init with params: %s\ngds-render version: %s\n", params, version);
+
+	Py_Initialize();
+
 	return 0;
 }