diff --git a/OMXControl.cpp b/OMXControl.cpp
index 2172bf7c..b8bed26b 100644
--- a/OMXControl.cpp
+++ b/OMXControl.cpp
@@ -219,6 +219,31 @@ OMXControlResult OMXControl::handle_event(DBusMessage *m)
     //Does nothing
     return KeyConfig::ACTION_BLANK;
   }
+  else if (dbus_message_is_method_call(m, OMXPLAYER_DBUS_INTERFACE_ROOT, "DisplayText"))
+  {
+    DBusError error;
+    dbus_error_init(&error);
+    
+    const char *msg;
+    int64_t duration;
+    
+    dbus_message_get_args(m, &error, DBUS_TYPE_STRING, &msg, DBUS_TYPE_INT64, &duration, DBUS_TYPE_INVALID);
+    
+    // Make sure values are sent for setting DisplayText
+    if (dbus_error_is_set(&error))
+    {
+      CLog::Log(LOGWARNING, "DisplayText D-Bus Error: %s", error.message );
+      dbus_error_free(&error);
+      dbus_respond_ok(m);
+      return KeyConfig::ACTION_BLANK;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+      subtitles->DisplayText(msg, duration);
+      dbus_respond_ok(m);
+      return KeyConfig::ACTION_BLANK;
+    }
+  }
   //Properties Get method:
   //TODO: implement GetAll
   else if (dbus_message_is_method_call(m, DBUS_INTERFACE_PROPERTIES, "Get"))
diff --git a/OMXPlayerSubtitles.cpp b/OMXPlayerSubtitles.cpp
index 7f074c3e..37b74f1f 100644
--- a/OMXPlayerSubtitles.cpp
+++ b/OMXPlayerSubtitles.cpp
@@ -44,9 +44,7 @@ OMXPlayerSubtitles::OMXPlayerSubtitles() BOOST_NOEXCEPT
   m_ghost_box(),
   m_lines(),
   m_av_clock(),
-#ifndef NDEBUG
   m_open()
-#endif
 {}
 
 OMXPlayerSubtitles::~OMXPlayerSubtitles() BOOST_NOEXCEPT
@@ -91,9 +89,7 @@ bool OMXPlayerSubtitles::Open(size_t stream_count,
 
   SendToRenderer(Message::Flush{m_external_subtitles});
 
-#ifndef NDEBUG
   m_open = true;
-#endif
 
   return true;
 }
@@ -109,9 +105,7 @@ void OMXPlayerSubtitles::Close() BOOST_NOEXCEPT
   m_mailbox.clear();
   m_subtitle_buffers.clear();
 
-#ifndef NDEBUG
   m_open = false;
-#endif
 }
 
 void OMXPlayerSubtitles::Process()
@@ -388,8 +382,9 @@ void OMXPlayerSubtitles::SetDelay(int value) BOOST_NOEXCEPT
 
 void OMXPlayerSubtitles::SetVisible(bool visible) BOOST_NOEXCEPT
 {
-  assert(m_open);
-
+  if (!m_open)
+    return;
+  
   if(visible)
   {
     if (!m_visible)
@@ -410,7 +405,9 @@ void OMXPlayerSubtitles::SetVisible(bool visible) BOOST_NOEXCEPT
 
 void OMXPlayerSubtitles::SetActiveStream(size_t index) BOOST_NOEXCEPT
 {
-  assert(m_open);
+  if (!m_open)
+    return;
+  
   assert(index < m_subtitle_buffers.size());
 
   m_active_index = index;
@@ -490,8 +487,9 @@ bool OMXPlayerSubtitles::AddPacket(OMXPacket *pkt, size_t stream_index) BOOST_NO
 
 void OMXPlayerSubtitles::DisplayText(const std::string& text, int duration) BOOST_NOEXCEPT
 {
-  assert(m_open);
-
+  if (!m_open)
+    return;
+  
   vector<string> text_lines;
   split(text_lines, text, is_any_of("\n"));
   SendToRenderer(Message::DisplayText{std::move(text_lines), duration});
diff --git a/OMXPlayerSubtitles.h b/OMXPlayerSubtitles.h
index 91c374c0..a7c0ce5b 100644
--- a/OMXPlayerSubtitles.h
+++ b/OMXPlayerSubtitles.h
@@ -66,7 +66,9 @@ class OMXPlayerSubtitles : public OMXThread
 
   size_t GetActiveStream() BOOST_NOEXCEPT
   {
-    assert(m_open);
+    if (!m_open)
+      return;
+    
     assert(!m_subtitle_buffers.empty());
     return m_active_index;
   }
@@ -174,8 +176,5 @@ class OMXPlayerSubtitles : public OMXThread
   OMXClock*                                     m_av_clock;
   int                                           m_display;
   int                                           m_layer;
-
-#ifndef NDEBUG
-  bool m_open;
-#endif
+  bool                                          m_open;
 };
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fe83c601..4d104006 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -226,6 +226,17 @@ No effect.
    Params       |   Type
 :-------------: | -------
  Return         | `null`
+ 
+##### DisplayText
+
+Display a message for the specified amount of time. If omxplayer is run with
+--no-osd, no message is displayed
+
+   Params       |   Type    | Description
+:-------------: | ----------| ------------------
+ 1              | `string`  | Message to display
+ 2              | `int64`   | Microseconds to display
+ Return         | `null`    | 
 
 #### Properties
 
diff --git a/dbuscontrol.sh b/dbuscontrol.sh
index 7fd71647..d3f06316 100755
--- a/dbuscontrol.sh
+++ b/dbuscontrol.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_PID=`cat $OMXPLAYER_DBUS_PID`
 [ -z "$DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS" ] && { echo "Must have DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS" >&2; exit 1; }
 
 case $1 in
+displaytext)
+    dbus-send --print-reply=literal --session --dest=org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.omxplayer /org/mpris/MediaPlayer2 org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.DisplayText string:"$2" int64:$3 >/dev/null
+    ;;
+
 status)
 	duration=`dbus-send --print-reply=literal --session --reply-timeout=500 --dest=org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.omxplayer /org/mpris/MediaPlayer2 org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Get string:"org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.Player" string:"Duration"`
 	[ $? -ne 0 ] && exit 1
diff --git a/omxplayer.cpp b/omxplayer.cpp
index bde45363..7d924d27 100644
--- a/omxplayer.cpp
+++ b/omxplayer.cpp
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ extern "C" {
 // when we repeatedly seek, rather than play continuously
 #define TRICKPLAY(speed) (speed < 0 || speed > 4 * DVD_PLAYSPEED_NORMAL)
 
-#define DISPLAY_TEXT(text, ms) if(m_osd) m_player_subtitles.DisplayText(text, ms)
+#define DISPLAY_TEXT(text, ms) if(m_osd) m_player_subtitles.DisplayText(text, ms) 
 
 #define DISPLAY_TEXT_SHORT(text) DISPLAY_TEXT(text, 1000)
 #define DISPLAY_TEXT_LONG(text) DISPLAY_TEXT(text, 2000)