diff --git a/DOCS/man/input.rst b/DOCS/man/input.rst
index 0f6ec9430e..94e1f2fd27 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/input.rst
+++ b/DOCS/man/input.rst
@@ -2533,6 +2533,28 @@ Property list
 ``current-ao``
     Current audio output driver (name as used with ``--ao``).
 
+``shared-script-properties`` (RW)
+    This is a key/value map of arbitrary strings shared between scripts for
+    general use. The player itself does not use any data in it (although some
+    builtin scripts may). The property is not preserved across player restarts.
+
+    This is very primitive, inefficient, and annoying to use. It's a makeshift
+    solution which could go away any time (for example, when a better solution
+    becomes available). This is also why this property has an annoying name. You
+    should avoid using it, unless you absolutely have to.
+
+    Lua scripting has helpers starting with ``utils.shared_script_property_``.
+    They are undocumented because you should not use this property. If you still
+    think you must, you should use the helpers instead of the property directly.
+
+    You are supposed to use the ``change-list`` command to modify the contents.
+    Reading, modifying, and writing the property manually could data loss if two
+    scripts update different keys at the same time due to lack of
+    synchronization. The Lua helpers take care of this.
+
+    (There is no way to ensure synchronization if two scripts try to update the
+    same key at the same time.)
+
 ``working-directory``
     Return the working directory of the mpv process. Can be useful for JSON IPC
     users, because the command line player usually works with relative paths.
diff --git a/player/command.c b/player/command.c
index 8576e36da7..32e4e3dfea 100644
--- a/player/command.c
+++ b/player/command.c
@@ -102,6 +102,12 @@ struct command_ctx {
     struct ao_hotplug *hotplug;
 
     struct mp_cmd_ctx *cache_dump_cmd; // in progress cache dumping
+
+    char **script_props;
+};
+
+static const struct m_option script_props_type = {
+    .type = &m_option_type_keyvalue_list
 };
 
 struct overlay {
@@ -3217,6 +3223,27 @@ static int mp_property_bindings(void *ctx, struct m_property *prop,
     return M_PROPERTY_NOT_IMPLEMENTED;
 }
 
+
+static int mp_property_script_props(void *ctx, struct m_property *prop,
+                                    int action, void *arg)
+{
+    MPContext *mpctx = ctx;
+    struct command_ctx *cmd = mpctx->command_ctx;
+    switch (action) {
+    case M_PROPERTY_GET_TYPE:
+        *(struct m_option *)arg = script_props_type;
+        return M_PROPERTY_OK;
+    case M_PROPERTY_GET:
+        m_option_copy(&script_props_type, arg, &cmd->script_props);
+        return M_PROPERTY_OK;
+    case M_PROPERTY_SET:
+        m_option_copy(&script_props_type, &cmd->script_props, arg);
+        mp_notify_property(mpctx, prop->name);
+        return M_PROPERTY_OK;
+    }
+    return M_PROPERTY_NOT_IMPLEMENTED;
+}
+
 // Redirect a property name to another
 #define M_PROPERTY_ALIAS(name, real_property) \
     {(name), mp_property_alias, .priv = (real_property)}
@@ -3391,6 +3418,8 @@ static const struct m_property mp_properties_base[] = {
     {"command-list", mp_property_commands},
     {"input-bindings", mp_property_bindings},
 
+    {"shared-script-properties", mp_property_script_props},
+
     M_PROPERTY_ALIAS("video", "vid"),
     M_PROPERTY_ALIAS("audio", "aid"),
     M_PROPERTY_ALIAS("sub", "sid"),
@@ -5856,6 +5885,8 @@ void command_uninit(struct MPContext *mpctx)
     overlay_uninit(mpctx);
     ao_hotplug_destroy(ctx->hotplug);
 
+    m_option_free(&script_props_type, &ctx->script_props);
+
     talloc_free(mpctx->command_ctx);
     mpctx->command_ctx = NULL;
 }
diff --git a/player/lua/defaults.lua b/player/lua/defaults.lua
index f2983e8dc3..29e513f4ea 100644
--- a/player/lua/defaults.lua
+++ b/player/lua/defaults.lua
@@ -676,4 +676,28 @@ function mp_utils.subprocess_detached(t)
     mp.commandv("run", unpack(t.args))
 end
 
+function mp_utils.shared_script_property_set(name, value)
+    if value ~= nil then
+        -- no such thing as change-list with mpv_node, so build a string value
+        mp.commandv("change-list", "shared-script-properties", "append",
+                    name .. "=" .. value)
+    else
+        mp.commandv("change-list", "shared-script-properties", "remove", name)
+    end
+end
+
+function mp_utils.shared_script_property_get(name)
+    local map = mp.get_property_native("shared-script-properties")
+    return map and map[name]
+end
+
+-- cb(name, value) on change and on init
+function mp_utils.shared_script_property_observe(name, cb)
+    -- it's _very_ wasteful to observe the mpv core "super" property for every
+    -- shared sub-property, but then again you shouldn't use this
+    mp.observe_property("shared-script-properties", "native", function(_, val)
+        cb(name, val and val[name])
+    end)
+end
+
 return {}