diff --git a/DOCS/man/ipc.rst b/DOCS/man/ipc.rst
index bbe07f0aba..31333a2c6a 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/ipc.rst
+++ b/DOCS/man/ipc.rst
@@ -79,6 +79,24 @@ mpv will also send events to clients with JSON messages of the following form:
 where ``event_name`` is the name of the event. Additional event-specific fields
 can also be present. See `List of events`_ for a list of all supported events.
 
+Because events can occur at any time, it may be difficult at times to determine
+which response goes with which command. Commands may optionally include a
+``request_id`` which, if provided in the command request, will be copied
+verbatim into the response. mpv does not intrepret the ``request_id`` in any
+way; it is solely for the use of the requester.
+
+For example, this request:
+
+::
+
+    { "command": ["get_property", "time-pos"], "request_id": 100 }
+
+Would generate this response:
+
+::
+
+    { "error": "success", "data": 1.468135, "request_id": 100 }
+
 All commands, replies, and events are separated from each other with a line
 break character (``\n``).
 
diff --git a/input/ipc.c b/input/ipc.c
index b49d64b8d4..ec219da31f 100644
--- a/input/ipc.c
+++ b/input/ipc.c
@@ -257,6 +257,8 @@ static char *json_execute_command(struct client_arg *arg, void *ta_parent,
         goto error;
     }
 
+    mpv_node *reqid_node = mpv_node_map_get(&msg_node, "request_id");
+
     mpv_node *cmd_node = mpv_node_map_get(&msg_node, "command");
     if (!cmd_node ||
         (cmd_node->format != MPV_FORMAT_NODE_ARRAY) ||
@@ -470,6 +472,14 @@ static char *json_execute_command(struct client_arg *arg, void *ta_parent,
     }
 
 error:
+    /* If the request contains a "request_id", copy it back into the response.
+     * This makes it easier on the requester to match up the IPC results with
+     * the original requests.
+     */
+    if (reqid_node) {
+        mpv_node_map_add(ta_parent, &reply_node, "request_id", reqid_node);
+    }
+
     mpv_node_map_add_string(ta_parent, &reply_node, "error", mpv_error_string(rc));
 
     char *output = talloc_strdup(ta_parent, "");