diff --git a/DOCS/man/en/input.rst b/DOCS/man/en/input.rst
index 4acba49169..671e05bf05 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/en/input.rst
+++ b/DOCS/man/en/input.rst
@@ -289,10 +289,14 @@ osd-msg
     value as text.
 osd-msg-bar
     Combine osd-bar and osd-msg.
+raw
+    Don't expand properties in string arguments. (Like ``"${property-name}"``.)
+expand-properties (default)
+    All string arguments are expanded like in ``--playing-msg``.
 
 
-
-All of these are still overridden by the global ``--osd-level`` settings.
+All of the osd prefixes are still overridden by the global ``--osd-level``
+settings.
 
 Undocumented prefixes: pausing, pausing_keep, pausing_toggle,
 pausing_keep_force. (Should these be made official?)
diff --git a/core/command.c b/core/command.c
index 9e16804e8a..7ef9982fc9 100644
--- a/core/command.c
+++ b/core/command.c
@@ -1821,6 +1821,19 @@ void run_command(MPContext *mpctx, mp_cmd_t *cmd)
     bool msg_osd = auto_osd || (cmd->on_osd & MP_ON_OSD_MSG);
     bool bar_osd = auto_osd || (cmd->on_osd & MP_ON_OSD_BAR);
     int osdl = msg_osd ? 1 : OSD_LEVEL_INVISIBLE;
+
+    if (!cmd->raw_args) {
+        for (int n = 0; n < cmd->nargs; n++) {
+            if (cmd->args[n].type.type == CONF_TYPE_STRING) {
+                cmd->args[n].v.s =
+                    mp_property_expand_string(mpctx, cmd->args[n].v.s);
+                if (!cmd->args[n].v.s)
+                    return;
+                talloc_steal(cmd, cmd->args[n].v.s);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     switch (cmd->id) {
     case MP_CMD_SEEK: {
         double v = cmd->args[0].v.d;
@@ -1985,23 +1998,15 @@ void run_command(MPContext *mpctx, mp_cmd_t *cmd)
     }
 
     case MP_CMD_PRINT_TEXT: {
-        char *txt = mp_property_expand_string(mpctx, cmd->args[0].v.s);
-        if (txt) {
-            mp_msg(MSGT_GLOBAL, MSGL_INFO, "%s\n", txt);
-            talloc_free(txt);
-        }
+        mp_msg(MSGT_GLOBAL, MSGL_INFO, "%s\n", cmd->args[0].v.s);
         break;
     }
 
     case MP_CMD_SHOW_TEXT: {
-        char *txt = mp_property_expand_string(mpctx, cmd->args[0].v.s);
-        if (txt) {
-            // if no argument supplied use default osd_duration, else <arg> ms.
-            set_osd_msg(mpctx, OSD_MSG_TEXT, cmd->args[2].v.i,
-                        (cmd->args[1].v.i < 0 ? osd_duration : cmd->args[1].v.i),
-                        "%s", txt);
-            talloc_free(txt);
-        }
+        // if no argument supplied use default osd_duration, else <arg> ms.
+        set_osd_msg(mpctx, OSD_MSG_TEXT, cmd->args[2].v.i,
+                    (cmd->args[1].v.i < 0 ? osd_duration : cmd->args[1].v.i),
+                    "%s", cmd->args[0].v.s);
         break;
     }
 
@@ -2284,11 +2289,7 @@ void run_command(MPContext *mpctx, mp_cmd_t *cmd)
     case MP_CMD_RUN:
 #ifndef __MINGW32__
         if (!fork()) {
-            char *s = mp_property_expand_string(mpctx, cmd->args[0].v.s);
-            if (s) {
-                execl("/bin/sh", "sh", "-c", s, NULL);
-                talloc_free(s);
-            }
+            execl("/bin/sh", "sh", "-c", cmd->args[0].v.s, NULL);
             exit(0);
         }
 #endif
diff --git a/core/input/input.c b/core/input/input.c
index ebfd74a7ea..3861a6e8c0 100644
--- a/core/input/input.c
+++ b/core/input/input.c
@@ -790,6 +790,7 @@ mp_cmd_t *mp_input_parse_cmd(bstr str, const char *loc)
 {
     int pausing = 0;
     int on_osd = MP_ON_OSD_AUTO;
+    bool raw_args = false;
     struct mp_cmd *cmd = NULL;
     bstr start = str;
     void *tmp = talloc_new(NULL);
@@ -829,6 +830,10 @@ mp_cmd_t *mp_input_parse_cmd(bstr str, const char *loc)
             on_osd = MP_ON_OSD_MSG | MP_ON_OSD_BAR;
         } else if (eat_token(&str, "osd-auto")) {
             // default
+        } else if (eat_token(&str, "raw")) {
+            raw_args = true;
+        } else if (eat_token(&str, "expand-properties")) {
+            // default
         } else {
             break;
         }
@@ -851,6 +856,7 @@ mp_cmd_t *mp_input_parse_cmd(bstr str, const char *loc)
     *cmd = mp_cmds[cmd_idx];
     cmd->pausing = pausing;
     cmd->on_osd = on_osd;
+    cmd->raw_args = raw_args;
 
     for (int i = 0; i < MP_CMD_MAX_ARGS; i++) {
         struct mp_cmd_arg *cmdarg = &cmd->args[i];
diff --git a/core/input/input.h b/core/input/input.h
index 12823dd004..e09e080db1 100644
--- a/core/input/input.h
+++ b/core/input/input.h
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ typedef struct mp_cmd {
     struct mp_cmd_arg args[MP_CMD_MAX_ARGS];
     int nargs;
     int pausing;
+    bool raw_args;
     enum mp_on_osd on_osd;
     bstr original;
     struct mp_cmd *queue_next;
diff --git a/osdep/macosx_application.m b/osdep/macosx_application.m
index 77c51a5180..7242403bc5 100644
--- a/osdep/macosx_application.m
+++ b/osdep/macosx_application.m
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ static pthread_t playback_thread_id;
     [self.files enumerateObjectsUsingBlock:^(id obj, NSUInteger i, BOOL *_){
         const char *file = [escape_loadfile_name(obj) UTF8String];
         const char *append = (i == 0) ? "" : " append";
-        char *cmd = talloc_asprintf(ctx, "loadfile \"%s\"%s", file, append);
+        char *cmd = talloc_asprintf(ctx, "raw loadfile \"%s\"%s", file, append);
         mp_cmd_t *cmdt = mp_input_parse_cmd(bstr0(cmd), "");
         mp_input_queue_cmd(self.inputContext, cmdt);
     }];