diff --git a/cmd-paste-buffer.c b/cmd-paste-buffer.c
index bef39593..fdf2bce7 100644
--- a/cmd-paste-buffer.c
+++ b/cmd-paste-buffer.c
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ const struct cmd_entry cmd_paste_buffer_entry = {
 	.name = "paste-buffer",
 	.alias = "pasteb",
 
-	.args = { "db:prs:t:", 0, 0, NULL },
-	.usage = "[-dpr] [-s separator] " CMD_BUFFER_USAGE " "
+	.args = { "db:prSs:t:", 0, 0, NULL },
+	.usage = "[-dprS] [-s separator] " CMD_BUFFER_USAGE " "
 		 CMD_TARGET_PANE_USAGE,
 
 	.target = { 't', CMD_FIND_PANE, 0 },
@@ -44,6 +44,17 @@ const struct cmd_entry cmd_paste_buffer_entry = {
 	.exec = cmd_paste_buffer_exec
 };
 
+static void
+cmd_paste_buffer_paste(struct window_pane *wp, const char *buf, size_t len)
+{
+	char	*cp;
+	size_t	 n;
+
+	n = utf8_stravisx(&cp, buf, len, VIS_SAFE);
+	bufferevent_write(wp->event, cp, n);
+	free(cp);
+}
+
 static enum cmd_retval
 cmd_paste_buffer_exec(struct cmd *self, struct cmdq_item *item)
 {
@@ -52,7 +63,7 @@ cmd_paste_buffer_exec(struct cmd *self, struct cmdq_item *item)
 	struct window_pane	*wp = target->wp;
 	struct paste_buffer	*pb;
 	const char		*sepstr, *bufname, *bufdata, *bufend, *line;
-	size_t			 seplen, bufsize;
+	size_t			 seplen, bufsize, len;
 	int			 bracket = args_has(args, 'p');
 
 	if (window_pane_exited(wp)) {
@@ -94,14 +105,22 @@ cmd_paste_buffer_exec(struct cmd *self, struct cmdq_item *item)
 			line = memchr(bufdata, '\n', bufend - bufdata);
 			if (line == NULL)
 				break;
-
-			bufferevent_write(wp->event, bufdata, line - bufdata);
+			len = line - bufdata;
+			if (args_has(args, 'S'))
+				bufferevent_write(wp->event, bufdata, len);
+			else
+				cmd_paste_buffer_paste(wp, bufdata, len);
 			bufferevent_write(wp->event, sepstr, seplen);
 
 			bufdata = line + 1;
 		}
-		if (bufdata != bufend)
-			bufferevent_write(wp->event, bufdata, bufend - bufdata);
+		if (bufdata != bufend) {
+			len = bufend - bufdata;
+			if (args_has(args, 'S'))
+				bufferevent_write(wp->event, bufdata, len);
+			else
+				cmd_paste_buffer_paste(wp, bufdata, len);
+		}
 
 		if (bracket && (wp->screen->mode & MODE_BRACKETPASTE))
 			bufferevent_write(wp->event, "\033[201~", 6);
diff --git a/tmux.1 b/tmux.1
index 4c19dfbd..f89e6ee5 100644
--- a/tmux.1
+++ b/tmux.1
@@ -7449,7 +7449,7 @@ is
 the contents are read from stdin.
 .Tg pasteb
 .It Xo Ic paste-buffer
-.Op Fl dpr
+.Op Fl dprS
 .Op Fl b Ar buffer-name
 .Op Fl s Ar separator
 .Op Fl t Ar target-pane
@@ -7457,9 +7457,14 @@ the contents are read from stdin.
 .D1 Pq alias: Ic pasteb
 Insert the contents of a paste buffer into the specified pane.
 If not specified, paste into the current one.
+By default, control characters are sanitized with
+.Xr vis 3 ;
+.Fl S
+disables this.
 With
 .Fl d ,
 also delete the paste buffer.
+.Pp
 When output, any linefeed (LF) characters in the paste buffer are replaced with
 a separator, by default carriage return (CR).
 A custom separator may be specified using the
diff --git a/tmux.h b/tmux.h
index 82ce5f50..349347c9 100644
--- a/tmux.h
+++ b/tmux.h
@@ -3573,9 +3573,9 @@ void		 utf8_copy(struct utf8_data *, const struct utf8_data *);
 enum utf8_state	 utf8_open(struct utf8_data *, u_char);
 enum utf8_state	 utf8_append(struct utf8_data *, u_char);
 int		 utf8_isvalid(const char *);
-int		 utf8_strvis(char *, const char *, size_t, int);
-int		 utf8_stravis(char **, const char *, int);
-int		 utf8_stravisx(char **, const char *, size_t, int);
+size_t		 utf8_strvis(char *, const char *, size_t, int);
+size_t		 utf8_stravis(char **, const char *, int);
+size_t		 utf8_stravisx(char **, const char *, size_t, int);
 char		*utf8_sanitize(const char *);
 size_t		 utf8_strlen(const struct utf8_data *);
 u_int		 utf8_strwidth(const struct utf8_data *, ssize_t);
diff --git a/utf8.c b/utf8.c
index e877f2d0..38f270a8 100644
--- a/utf8.c
+++ b/utf8.c
@@ -639,7 +639,7 @@ utf8_append(struct utf8_data *ud, u_char ch)
  * bytes available for each character from src (for \abc or UTF-8) plus space
  * for \0.
  */
-int
+size_t
 utf8_strvis(char *dst, const char *src, size_t len, int flag)
 {
 	struct utf8_data	 ud;
@@ -677,11 +677,11 @@ utf8_strvis(char *dst, const char *src, size_t len, int flag)
 }
 
 /* Same as utf8_strvis but allocate the buffer. */
-int
+size_t
 utf8_stravis(char **dst, const char *src, int flag)
 {
 	char	*buf;
-	int	 len;
+	size_t	 len;
 
 	buf = xreallocarray(NULL, 4, strlen(src) + 1);
 	len = utf8_strvis(buf, src, strlen(src), flag);
@@ -691,11 +691,11 @@ utf8_stravis(char **dst, const char *src, int flag)
 }
 
 /* Same as utf8_strvis but allocate the buffer. */
-int
+size_t
 utf8_stravisx(char **dst, const char *src, size_t srclen, int flag)
 {
 	char	*buf;
-	int	 len;
+	size_t	 len;
 
 	buf = xreallocarray(NULL, 4, srclen + 1);
 	len = utf8_strvis(buf, src, srclen, flag);