Stop selection mode from changing automatically?

[Momaw]

Just updated to latest wings, and this is seriously bugging me.

If I use spacebar to deselect everything, the selection mode changes from whatever I had set to an odd proximity-sensitive mode. Like when I'm working with objects, and deselect, suddenly clicking on things selects faces and edges instead of objects. I'm constantly having to undo, change select mode, do over, because the program changes my select mode on me.

Very irritating and I'm not seeing an option for it in preferences.