diff --git a/README.org b/README.org
index 38f9dab..969ec59 100644
--- a/README.org
+++ b/README.org
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ alt + s
     tdrop -ma -w -4 -y "$PANEL_HEIGHT" -s dropdown termite
 #+END_EXAMPLE
 
-The positional argument should be the name of a program in =$PATH= (as opposed to the full path to a program) and should not contain any flags (see =-f= if you want to pass additional flags to the program when running it). It should always be the last argument.
+The positional argument should be the name of a program in =$PATH= (as opposed to the full path to a program). It should always come after any tdrop flags. Flags for the program can come after it (e.g. ~tdrop urxvt -title foo~).
 
 ** Basic Flags
 =-w= / =--width=, =-h= / =--height=, =-x= / =--xoff=, and =-y= / =--yoff= can be used to set the window size/position. The argument to any of these can be a number (e.g. =-w 800=) or a percentage (e.g. =-w 100%=). Negative numbers correspond to that many pixels less than 100% of the screen width (e.g. =-w -4=).
diff --git a/tdrop b/tdrop
index e3d6183..2d9fe66 100755
--- a/tdrop
+++ b/tdrop
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ options:
 			floating window; on applicable with auto_hide
 	-f flags	specify flags/options to be used when creating the term or
 			window (e.g. -f '--title mytitle'; default: none).
+			NOTE: This flag is deprecated. Specify flags after the program name
+			instead. This flag may be removed in the future.
 			Caution: if there is a tmux session specified (with -s), the option
 			to execute a program (usually -e for terminal programs) is
 			implicitly added by tdrop
@@ -88,7 +90,7 @@ dec_fix=
 # set in decoration_settings
 subtract_when_same=
 is_floating=
-program_flags=
+program_flags=()
 clearwid=false
 cancel_auto_show=true
 auto_detect_wm=false
@@ -118,7 +120,7 @@ do
 		d) dec_fix=$OPTARG;;
 		S) subtract_when_same=false;;
 		i) is_floating=$OPTARG;;
-		f) program_flags=$OPTARG;;
+		f) eval "program_flags=($OPTARG)";;
 		a) auto_detect_wm=true;;
 		m) monitor_aware=true;;
 		t) pointer_monitor_detection=true;;
@@ -151,7 +153,7 @@ do
 				decoration-fix) dec_fix=$OPTARG;;
 				no-subtract-when-same) subtract_when_same=false;;
 				is-floating) is_floating=$OPTARG;;
-				program-flags) program_flags=$OPTARG;;
+				program-flags) eval "program_flags=($OPTARG)";;
 				auto-detect-wm) auto_detect_wm=true;;
 				monitor-aware) monitor_aware=true;;
 				pointer-monitor-detection) pointer_monitor_detection=true;;
@@ -170,6 +172,10 @@ done
 shift "$((OPTIND-1))"
 program=$1
 
+if [[ -z $program_flags ]]; then
+	program_flags=("${@:2}")
+fi
+
 # check that the program is not a path and does not contain flags
 if [[ ! $program =~ ^(current|auto_hide|auto_show|toggle_auto_hide)$ ]] && \
 	   ! type "$program" &> /dev/null; then
@@ -178,8 +184,8 @@ if [[ ! $program =~ ^(current|auto_hide|auto_show|toggle_auto_hide)$ ]] && \
 	exit 1
 fi
 
-if [[ $# -ne 1 ]]; then
-	echo >&2 "Exactly 1 positional argument is required." \
+if [[ -z $program ]]; then
+	echo >&2 "Program to run is required as a positional argument." \
 			 "For help use -h or --help or see the manpage." | \
 		tee -a "$MUTDROP_PATH"/log
 	exit 1
@@ -552,7 +558,7 @@ create_win_return_wid() {
 		blacklist=$(xdotool search --classname emacs)
 	fi
 	# need to redirect stdout or function won't return
-	eval "$1 > /dev/null &"
+	"$@" > /dev/null &
 	if [[ -z $pid ]]; then
 		# for normal programs
 		# also for when one of the programs above hadn't already been started
@@ -603,30 +609,30 @@ create_win_return_wid() {
 
 program_start() {
 	local program_command tmux_command wid
+	program_command=("$program")
 	if [[ $program == alacritty ]]; then
 		# prevent alacritty from resizing the terminal to 80x24
-		program_command="$program -d 0 0 $program_flags"
-	else
-		program_command="$program $program_flags"
+		program_command+=(-d 0 0)
 	fi
+	program_command+=("${program_flags[@]}")
 	if [[ -n "$session_name" ]]; then
 		session_name=$(printf "%q" "$session_name")
-		tmux_command="'tmux attach-session -dt $session_name || \
+		tmux_command="tmux attach-session -dt $session_name || \
 			tmuxifier load-session $session_name || \
 			tmuxinator start $session_name || \
-			tmux new-session -s $session_name'"
+			tmux new-session -s $session_name"
 		# note: st will work with or without the -e flag (like kitty)
 		# note: regular console works with or without quotes, but trinity's
 		# konsole only works without quotes
-		if [[ $program =~  ^(urxvt|alacritty|xiatec|st|lxterminal|qterminal|cool-retro-term|lilyterm|konsole$) ]]; then
-			program_command="$program_command -e bash -c $tmux_command"
+		if [[ $program =~ ^(urxvt|alacritty|xiatec|st|lxterminal|qterminal|cool-retro-term|lilyterm|konsole$) ]]; then
+			program_command+=(-e bash -c "$tmux_command")
 		elif [[ $program == kitty ]]; then
-			program_command="$program_command bash -c $tmux_command"
+			program_command+=(bash -c "$tmux_command")
 		else
-			program_command="$program_command -e \"bash -c $tmux_command\""
+			program_command+=(-e "\"bash -c $tmux_command\"")
 		fi
 	fi
-	wid=$(create_win_return_wid "$program_command")
+	wid=$(create_win_return_wid "${program_command[@]}")
 	if [[ -n "$name" ]]; then
 		xdotool set_window --name "$name" "$wid"
 	fi
diff --git a/tdrop.1 b/tdrop.1
index 6fc2e65..0514c53 100644
--- a/tdrop.1
+++ b/tdrop.1
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ tdrop [\fIOPTIONS\fR] [program name or cmd]
 
 	It also has the ability to automatically hide and automatically show dropdowns. For example, it can be used to automatically hide a terminal when opening something from it, e.g. an image viewer, video player, etc. Tdrop can         then automatically bring back the terminal whenever the image view, video player, etc. is closed. See the Examples section for more information.
 .SH Commands
-Tdrop expects the name of a program or 'current' (to use the current window) as the last argument to create a dropdown. Alternatively, it can take one of auto_show, auto_hide, or toggle_auto_hide. Neither functionality is particularly useful called directly from the command line; the former should be bound to a key, and the latter is better used in shell functions/aliases or with a file opener (e.g. in the rifle.conf).
+Tdrop expects the name of a program or 'current' (to use the current window) as the last argument to create a dropdown (optionally followed by any flags to that program). Alternatively, it can take one of auto_show, auto_hide, or toggle_auto_hide. Neither functionality is particularly useful called directly from the command line; the former should be bound to a key, and the latter is better used in shell functions/aliases or with a file opener (e.g. in the rifle.conf).
 .SH OPTIONS
 .br
 E.g.
@@ -75,7 +75,11 @@ This option is a more complicated companion to -d that is also unlikely to be ne
 Specify a command that will determine whether the current window is floating ($wid can be used in the command instead). Only used for the auto_hide command. This will be used to save whether the current window is floating or not. When restoring the window, if there is a float command and the window was previously floating, it will be floated. (default: none)
 .TP
 \fB-f\fR, \fB --program-flags\fR
-Specify flags/options that the terminal or program should be called with. For example, to set the title of the terminal, something like 'tdrop -f "--title mytitle" <program>' can be used. Caution: If there is a tmux session specified (with -s), the option to execute a program (usually -e for terminal programs) is implicitly added by tdrop! (default: none)
+NOTE: Using this flag is deprecated; it may be removed in the future. Instead, specify program flags after the program (e.g. "tdrop kitty --name foo").
+
+Specify flags/options that the terminal or program should be called with. For example, to set the title of the terminal, something like 'tdrop -f "--title mytitle" <program>' can be used.
+
+Caution: If there is a tmux session specified (with -s), the option to execute a program (usually -e for terminal programs) is implicitly added by tdrop! (default: none)
 .TP
 \fB-a\fR, \fB --auto-detect-wm\fR
 If there are available settings for the detected window manager for the -l, -L, -d, and/or -i options, automatically set them. Takes no argument. Manually specified settings take precedence. This can be used both for dropdowns and the auto_(hide|show) commands. Takes no argument. (default: false)