diff --git a/i3pystatus/core/command.py b/i3pystatus/core/command.py
index 8303b4a..fb975b7 100644
--- a/i3pystatus/core/command.py
+++ b/i3pystatus/core/command.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# from subprocess import CalledProcessError
+import logging
 from collections import namedtuple
 import subprocess
 
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ def run_through_shell(command, enable_shell=False):
     in one variable
     """
 
+    if not enable_shell and not isinstance(command, list):
+        command = command.split()
+
     returncode = None
     stderr = None
     try:
@@ -27,7 +30,35 @@ def run_through_shell(command, enable_shell=False):
     except OSError as e:
         out = e.strerror
         stderr = e.strerror
+        logging.getLogger("i3pystatus.command").exception("")
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
         out = e.output
+        logging.getLogger("i3pystatus.command").exception("")
 
     return CommandResult(returncode, out, stderr)
+
+
+def run_in_background(command, detach=False):
+    """
+    Runs a command in background.
+    No output is retrieved.
+    Useful for running GUI applications that would block click events.
+
+    :param detach If set to `True` the application will be executed using the
+    `i3-msg` command.
+    """
+
+    if not isinstance(command, list):
+        command = command.split()
+
+    if detach:
+        command.insert(0, "exec")
+        command.insert(0, "i3-msg")
+
+    try:
+        subprocess.Popen(command, stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+                         stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL)
+    except OSError:
+        logging.getLogger("i3pystatus.command").exception("")
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
+        logging.getLogger("i3pystatus.command").exception("")