diff --git a/cmd-queue.c b/cmd-queue.c
index 8325e2e8..8ed3673b 100644
--- a/cmd-queue.c
+++ b/cmd-queue.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <time.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
+#include <vis.h>
 
 #include "tmux.h"
 
@@ -823,43 +824,88 @@ cmdq_guard(struct cmdq_item *item, const char *guard, int flags)
 
 /* Show message from command. */
 void
-cmdq_print(struct cmdq_item *item, const char *fmt, ...)
+cmdq_print_data(struct cmdq_item *item, int parse, struct evbuffer *evb)
 {
 	struct client			*c = item->client;
+	void				*data = EVBUFFER_DATA(evb);
+	size_t				 size = EVBUFFER_LENGTH(evb);
 	struct window_pane		*wp;
 	struct window_mode_entry	*wme;
-	va_list				 ap;
-	char				*tmp, *msg;
+	char				*sanitized, *msg, *line;
 
-	va_start(ap, fmt);
-	xvasprintf(&msg, fmt, ap);
-	va_end(ap);
-
-	log_debug("%s: %s", __func__, msg);
-
-	if (c == NULL)
-		/* nothing */;
-	else if (c->session == NULL || (c->flags & CLIENT_CONTROL)) {
-		if (~c->flags & CLIENT_UTF8) {
-			tmp = msg;
-			msg = utf8_sanitize(tmp);
-			free(tmp);
-		}
-		if (c->flags & CLIENT_CONTROL)
-			control_write(c, "%s", msg);
-		else
-			file_print(c, "%s\n", msg);
+	if (!parse) {
+		utf8_stravisx(&msg, data, size, VIS_OCTAL|VIS_CSTYLE|VIS_TAB);
+		log_debug("%s: %s", __func__, msg);
 	} else {
-		wp = server_client_get_pane(c);
-		wme = TAILQ_FIRST(&wp->modes);
-		if (wme == NULL || wme->mode != &window_view_mode) {
-			window_pane_set_mode(wp, NULL, &window_view_mode, NULL,
-			    NULL);
-		}
-		window_copy_add(wp, 0, "%s", msg);
+		msg = EVBUFFER_DATA(evb);
+		if (msg[size - 1] != '\0')
+			evbuffer_add(evb, "", 1);
 	}
 
-	free(msg);
+	if (c == NULL)
+		goto out;
+
+	if (c->session == NULL || (c->flags & CLIENT_CONTROL)) {
+		if (~c->flags & CLIENT_UTF8) {
+			sanitized = utf8_sanitize(msg);
+			if (c->flags & CLIENT_CONTROL)
+				control_write(c, "%s", sanitized);
+			else
+				file_print(c, "%s\n", sanitized);
+			free(sanitized);
+		} else {
+			if (c->flags & CLIENT_CONTROL)
+				control_write(c, "%s", msg);
+			else
+				file_print(c, "%s\n", msg);
+		}
+		goto out;
+	}
+
+	wp = server_client_get_pane(c);
+	wme = TAILQ_FIRST(&wp->modes);
+	if (wme == NULL || wme->mode != &window_view_mode)
+		window_pane_set_mode(wp, NULL, &window_view_mode, NULL, NULL);
+	if (parse) {
+		do {
+			line = evbuffer_readln(evb, NULL, EVBUFFER_EOL_LF);
+			if (line != NULL) {
+				window_copy_add(wp, 1, "%s", line);
+				free(line);
+			}
+		} while (line != NULL);
+
+		size = EVBUFFER_LENGTH(evb);
+		if (size != 0) {
+			line = EVBUFFER_DATA(evb);
+			window_copy_add(wp, 1, "%.*s", (int)size, line);
+		}
+	} else
+		window_copy_add(wp, 0, "%s", msg);
+
+out:
+	if (!parse)
+		free(msg);
+
+}
+
+/* Show message from command. */
+void
+cmdq_print(struct cmdq_item *item, const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+	va_list		 ap;
+	struct evbuffer	*evb;
+
+	evb = evbuffer_new();
+	if (evb == NULL)
+		fatalx("out of memory");
+
+	va_start(ap, fmt);
+	evbuffer_add_vprintf(evb, fmt, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	cmdq_print_data(item, 0, evb);
+	evbuffer_free(evb);
 }
 
 /* Show error from command. */
diff --git a/cmd-save-buffer.c b/cmd-save-buffer.c
index 7d678372..3e81500d 100644
--- a/cmd-save-buffer.c
+++ b/cmd-save-buffer.c
@@ -78,7 +78,8 @@ cmd_save_buffer_exec(struct cmd *self, struct cmdq_item *item)
 	int			 flags;
 	const char		*bufname = args_get(args, 'b'), *bufdata;
 	size_t			 bufsize;
-	char			*path, *tmp;
+	char			*path;
+	struct evbuffer		*evb;
 
 	if (bufname == NULL) {
 		if ((pb = paste_get_top(NULL)) == NULL) {
@@ -96,10 +97,12 @@ cmd_save_buffer_exec(struct cmd *self, struct cmdq_item *item)
 
 	if (cmd_get_entry(self) == &cmd_show_buffer_entry) {
 		if (c->session != NULL || (c->flags & CLIENT_CONTROL)) {
-			utf8_stravisx(&tmp, bufdata, bufsize,
-			    VIS_OCTAL|VIS_CSTYLE|VIS_TAB);
-			cmdq_print(item, "%s", tmp);
-			free(tmp);
+			evb = evbuffer_new();
+			if (evb == NULL)
+				fatalx("out of memory");
+			evbuffer_add(evb, bufdata, bufsize);
+			cmdq_print_data(item, 1, evb);
+			evbuffer_free(evb);
 			return (CMD_RETURN_NORMAL);
 		}
 		path = xstrdup("-");
diff --git a/tmux.h b/tmux.h
index 751e8a99..5a065126 100644
--- a/tmux.h
+++ b/tmux.h
@@ -2551,6 +2551,7 @@ u_int		 cmdq_next(struct client *);
 struct cmdq_item *cmdq_running(struct client *);
 void		 cmdq_guard(struct cmdq_item *, const char *, int);
 void printflike(2, 3) cmdq_print(struct cmdq_item *, const char *, ...);
+void 		 cmdq_print_data(struct cmdq_item *, int, struct evbuffer *);
 void printflike(2, 3) cmdq_error(struct cmdq_item *, const char *, ...);
 
 /* cmd-wait-for.c */