diff --git a/DOCS/man/osc.rst b/DOCS/man/osc.rst
index 61591b7023..9ed338a965 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/osc.rst
+++ b/DOCS/man/osc.rst
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ Configurable Options
 
     String that supports property expansion that will be displayed as
     OSC title.
-    ASS tags are escaped, and newlines and trailing slashes are stripped.
+    ASS tags are escaped and newlines are converted to spaces.
 
 ``tooltipborder``
     Default: 1
diff --git a/player/lua/osc.lua b/player/lua/osc.lua
index a750d850a6..3ba1890a92 100644
--- a/player/lua/osc.lua
+++ b/player/lua/osc.lua
@@ -955,10 +955,7 @@ function show_message(text, duration)
     -- may slow down massively on huge input
     text = string.sub(text, 0, 4000)
 
-    -- replace actual linebreaks with ASS linebreaks
-    text = string.gsub(text, "\n", "\\N")
-
-    state.message_text = text
+    state.message_text = mp.command_native({"escape-ass", text})
 
     if not state.message_hide_timer then
         state.message_hide_timer = mp.add_timeout(0, request_tick)
@@ -1162,9 +1159,8 @@ function window_controls(topbar)
     ne = new_element("wctitle", "button")
     ne.content = function ()
         local title = mp.command_native({"expand-text", user_opts.windowcontrols_title})
-        -- escape ASS, and strip newlines and trailing slashes
-        title = title:gsub("\\n", " "):gsub("\\$", ""):gsub("{","\\{")
-        return not (title == "") and title or "mpv"
+        title = title:gsub("\n", " ")
+        return title ~= "" and mp.command_native({"escape-ass", title}) or "mpv"
     end
     local left_pad = 5
     local right_pad = 10
@@ -1792,9 +1788,8 @@ function osc_init()
     ne.content = function ()
         local title = state.forced_title or
                       mp.command_native({"expand-text", user_opts.title})
-        -- escape ASS, and strip newlines and trailing slashes
-        title = title:gsub("\\n", " "):gsub("\\$", ""):gsub("{","\\{")
-        return not (title == "") and title or "mpv"
+        title = title:gsub("\n", " ")
+        return title ~= "" and mp.command_native({"escape-ass", title}) or "mpv"
     end
 
     ne.eventresponder["mbtn_left_up"] = function ()