diff -r df6ff406aa72 editor.completion/src/org/netbeans/modules/editor/completion/CompletionSettings.java
--- a/editor.completion/src/org/netbeans/modules/editor/completion/CompletionSettings.java	Fri Oct 16 17:12:43 2009 +0300
+++ b/editor.completion/src/org/netbeans/modules/editor/completion/CompletionSettings.java	Wed Oct 28 12:18:48 2009 +0200
@@ -42,8 +42,6 @@
 package org.netbeans.modules.editor.completion;
 
 import java.awt.Dimension;
-import java.lang.ref.Reference;
-import java.lang.ref.SoftReference;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Set;
@@ -72,12 +70,11 @@
     // -----------------------------------------------------------------------
     // public implementation
     // -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+    public static CompletionSettings instance;
     
     public static synchronized CompletionSettings getInstance() {
-        CompletionSettings instance = ref == null ? null : ref.get();
         if (instance == null) {
             instance = new CompletionSettings();
-            ref = new SoftReference<CompletionSettings>(instance);
         }
         return instance;
     }
@@ -177,8 +174,6 @@
         SimpleValueNames.JAVADOC_PREFERRED_SIZE,
     }));
 
-    private static Reference<CompletionSettings> ref = null;
-    
     private Preferences preferences = null;
     private PreferenceChangeListener weakListener = null;