diff --git a/include/hyprutils/string/VarList.hpp b/include/hyprutils/string/VarList.hpp
index 697b51e..e106c3b 100644
--- a/include/hyprutils/string/VarList.hpp
+++ b/include/hyprutils/string/VarList.hpp
@@ -8,11 +8,13 @@ namespace Hyprutils {
         class CVarList {
           public:
             /** Split string into arg list
-                @param lastArgNo stop splitting after argv reaches maximum size, last arg will contain rest of unsplit args
-                @param delim if delimiter is 's', use std::isspace
-                @param removeEmpty remove empty args from argv
+                * @param in The string to split
+                * @param lastArgNo The number of arguments to split into
+                * @param delim The delimiter to use for splitting
+                * @param removeEmpty Whether to remove empty arguments
+                * @param handleEscape Whether to handle escape characters
             */
-            CVarList(const std::string& in, const size_t lastArgNo = 0, const char delim = ',', const bool removeEmpty = false);
+            CVarList(const std::string& in, const size_t lastArgNo = 0, const char delim = ',', const bool removeEmpty = false, const bool handleEscape = false);
 
             ~CVarList() = default;
 
diff --git a/src/string/VarList.cpp b/src/string/VarList.cpp
index 08177de..9504797 100644
--- a/src/string/VarList.cpp
+++ b/src/string/VarList.cpp
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 using namespace Hyprutils::String;
 
-Hyprutils::String::CVarList::CVarList(const std::string& in, const size_t lastArgNo, const char delim, const bool removeEmpty) {
+Hyprutils::String::CVarList::CVarList(const std::string& in, const size_t lastArgNo, const char delim, const bool removeEmpty, const bool handleEscape) {
     if (!removeEmpty && in.empty()) {
         m_vArgs.emplace_back("");
         return;
@@ -18,14 +18,14 @@ Hyprutils::String::CVarList::CVarList(const std::string& in, const size_t lastAr
     for (size_t i = 0; i < in.length(); ++i) {
         char c = in[i];
 
-        // Handle escape character
-        if (c == '\\' && !escaped) {
+        // Handle escape character if enabled
+        if (handleEscape && c == '\\' && !escaped) {
             escaped = true;
             continue;
         }
 
-        // Check if we've hit a delimiter that's not escaped
-        bool isDelim = (delim == 's' ? std::isspace(c) : c == delim) && !escaped;
+        // Determine if this char is a delimiter (respect escape setting)
+        bool isDelim = (delim == 's' ? std::isspace(c) : c == delim) && !(handleEscape && escaped);
 
         if (isDelim) {
             if (!removeEmpty || !currentArg.empty()) {
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ Hyprutils::String::CVarList::CVarList(const std::string& in, const size_t lastAr
                 idx++;
             }
 
-            // If this is the last argument we want to parse separately
             if (idx == lastArgNo - 1) {
                 m_vArgs.emplace_back(trim(in.substr(i + 1)));
                 return;
@@ -43,10 +42,10 @@ Hyprutils::String::CVarList::CVarList(const std::string& in, const size_t lastAr
             currentArg += c;
         }
 
-        escaped = false;
+        if (handleEscape)
+            escaped = false;
     }
 
-    // Add the last argument if there is one
     if (!removeEmpty || !currentArg.empty()) {
         m_vArgs.emplace_back(trim(currentArg));
     }
diff --git a/tests/string.cpp b/tests/string.cpp
index 54772c8..80c2cf8 100644
--- a/tests/string.cpp
+++ b/tests/string.cpp
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv, char** envp) {
     EXPECT(list[0], "hello");
     EXPECT(list[1], "world!");
 
-    CVarList list2("test:test\\:test", 0, ':', true);
+    CVarList list2("test:test\\:test", 0, ':', true, true);
     EXPECT(list2[0], "test");
     EXPECT(list2[1], "test:test");