diff --git a/intl/msg_hash_us.h b/intl/msg_hash_us.h
index e8ff6da8c0..45391cb972 100644
--- a/intl/msg_hash_us.h
+++ b/intl/msg_hash_us.h
@@ -98,6 +98,10 @@ MSG_HASH(
       MSG_NETPLAY_CANNOT_PLAY,
       "Cannot switch to play mode."
       )
+MSG_HASH(
+      MSG_NETPLAY_PEER_PAUSED,
+      "Netplay peer \"%s\" paused."
+      )
 MSG_HASH(
       MENU_ENUM_SUBLABEL_VIDEO_SHARED_CONTEXT,
       "Give hardware-rendered cores their own private context. Avoids having to assume hardware state changes inbetween frames."
diff --git a/msg_hash.h b/msg_hash.h
index 1bb53899e1..4e57829709 100644
--- a/msg_hash.h
+++ b/msg_hash.h
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ enum msg_hash_enums
    MSG_NETPLAY_CANNOT_PLAY_UNPRIVILEGED,
    MSG_NETPLAY_CANNOT_PLAY_NO_SLOTS,
    MSG_NETPLAY_CANNOT_PLAY,
+   MSG_NETPLAY_PEER_PAUSED,
    MSG_AUTODETECT,
    MSG_AUDIO_VOLUME,
    MSG_LIBRETRO_FRONTEND,
diff --git a/network/netplay/README b/network/netplay/README
index a02f4823af..ad6932bc3e 100644
--- a/network/netplay/README
+++ b/network/netplay/README
@@ -255,11 +255,18 @@ Description:
     serialized state is zlib compressed. Otherwise it is uncompressed.
 
 Command: PAUSE
-Payload: None
+Payload:
+    {
+       nickname: char[32]
+    }
+Description:
     Indicates that the core is paused. The receiving peer should also pause.
+    The server should pass it on, using the known correct name rather than the
+    provided name.
 
 Command: RESUME
 Payload: None
+Description:
     Indicates that the core is no longer paused.
 
 Command: CHEATS
diff --git a/network/netplay/netplay_frontend.c b/network/netplay/netplay_frontend.c
index 524c5e814f..ff68b1daee 100644
--- a/network/netplay/netplay_frontend.c
+++ b/network/netplay/netplay_frontend.c
@@ -467,6 +467,7 @@ static void netplay_flip_users(netplay_t *netplay)
 static void netplay_frontend_paused(netplay_t *netplay, bool paused)
 {
    size_t i;
+   uint32_t paused_ct;
 
    /* Nothing to do if we already knew this */
    if (netplay->local_paused == paused)
@@ -474,18 +475,33 @@ static void netplay_frontend_paused(netplay_t *netplay, bool paused)
 
    netplay->local_paused = paused;
 
-   /* If other connections are paused, nothing to say */
-   if (netplay->remote_paused)
+   /* Communicating this is a bit odd: If exactly one other connection is
+    * paused, then we must tell them that we're unpaused, as from their
+    * perspective we are. If more than one other connection is paused, then our
+    * status as proxy means we are NOT unpaused to either of them. */
+   paused_ct = 0;
+   for (i = 0; i < netplay->connections_size; i++)
+   {
+      struct netplay_connection *connection = &netplay->connections[i];
+      if (connection->active && connection->paused)
+         paused_ct++;
+   }
+   if (paused_ct > 1)
       return;
 
-   /* Have to send manually because every buffer must be flushed immediately */
+   /* Send our unpaused status. Must send manually because we must immediately
+    * flush the buffer: If we're paused, we won't be polled. */
    for (i = 0; i < netplay->connections_size; i++)
    {
       struct netplay_connection *connection = &netplay->connections[i];
       if (connection->active && connection->mode >= NETPLAY_CONNECTION_CONNECTED)
       {
-         netplay_send_raw_cmd(netplay, connection,
-            paused ? NETPLAY_CMD_PAUSE : NETPLAY_CMD_RESUME, NULL, 0);
+         if (paused)
+            netplay_send_raw_cmd(netplay, connection, NETPLAY_CMD_PAUSE,
+               netplay->nick, NETPLAY_NICK_LEN);
+         else
+            netplay_send_raw_cmd(netplay, connection, NETPLAY_CMD_RESUME,
+               NULL, 0);
 
          /* We're not going to be polled, so we need to flush this command now */
          netplay_send_flush(&connection->send_packet_buffer, connection->fd, true);
diff --git a/network/netplay/netplay_io.c b/network/netplay/netplay_io.c
index 781f2f5b13..fdeda81f1d 100644
--- a/network/netplay/netplay_io.c
+++ b/network/netplay/netplay_io.c
@@ -1095,10 +1095,43 @@ static bool netplay_get_cmd(netplay_t *netplay,
          }
 
       case NETPLAY_CMD_PAUSE:
-         connection->paused = true;
-         netplay->remote_paused = true;
-         netplay_send_raw_cmd_all(netplay, connection, NETPLAY_CMD_PAUSE, NULL, 0);
-         break;
+         {
+            char msg[512], nick[NETPLAY_NICK_LEN];
+            msg[sizeof(msg)-1] = '\0';
+
+            /* Read in the paused nick */
+            if (cmd_size != sizeof(nick))
+            {
+               RARCH_ERR("NETPLAY_CMD_PAUSE received invalid payload size.\n");
+               return netplay_cmd_nak(netplay, connection);
+            }
+            RECV(nick, sizeof(nick))
+            {
+               RARCH_ERR("Failed to receive paused nickname.\n");
+               return netplay_cmd_nak(netplay, connection);
+            }
+            nick[sizeof(nick)-1] = '\0';
+
+            /* We outright ignore pausing from spectators */
+            if (connection->mode != NETPLAY_CONNECTION_PLAYING)
+               break;
+
+            connection->paused = true;
+            netplay->remote_paused = true;
+            if (netplay->is_server)
+            {
+               snprintf(msg, sizeof(msg)-1, msg_hash_to_str(MSG_NETPLAY_PEER_PAUSED), connection->nick);
+               netplay_send_raw_cmd_all(netplay, connection, NETPLAY_CMD_PAUSE,
+                     connection->nick, NETPLAY_NICK_LEN);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+               snprintf(msg, sizeof(msg)-1, msg_hash_to_str(MSG_NETPLAY_PEER_PAUSED), nick);
+            }
+            RARCH_LOG("%s\n", msg);
+            runloop_msg_queue_push(msg, 1, 180, false);
+            break;
+         }
 
       case NETPLAY_CMD_RESUME:
          remote_unpaused(netplay, connection);