diff --git a/autoload/vimtex.vim b/autoload/vimtex.vim
index 7539000..16195c6 100644
--- a/autoload/vimtex.vim
+++ b/autoload/vimtex.vim
@@ -533,7 +533,6 @@ function! vimtex#wordcount(detailed) " {{{1
   setlocal bufhidden=wipe
   setlocal buftype=nofile
   setlocal cursorline
-  setlocal listchars=
   setlocal nobuflisted
   setlocal nolist
   setlocal nospell
diff --git a/autoload/vimtex/index.vim b/autoload/vimtex/index.vim
index f7140a1..69dc44c 100644
--- a/autoload/vimtex/index.vim
+++ b/autoload/vimtex/index.vim
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@ function! vimtex#index#create(index) " {{{1
   setlocal concealcursor=nvic
   setlocal conceallevel=0
   setlocal cursorline
-  setlocal listchars=
   setlocal nobuflisted
   setlocal nolist
   setlocal nospell
diff --git a/autoload/vimtex/latexmk.vim b/autoload/vimtex/latexmk.vim
index 3f64b4a..08f9072 100644
--- a/autoload/vimtex/latexmk.vim
+++ b/autoload/vimtex/latexmk.vim
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ function! vimtex#latexmk#init_options() " {{{1
   call vimtex#util#set_default('g:vimtex_latexmk_background', 0)
   call vimtex#util#set_default('g:vimtex_latexmk_callback', 1)
   call vimtex#util#set_default('g:vimtex_latexmk_continuous', 1)
+  call vimtex#util#set_default('g:vimtex_latexmk_file_line_error', 1)
   call vimtex#util#set_default('g:vimtex_latexmk_options', '')
   call vimtex#util#set_default('g:vimtex_latexmk_progname',
         \ get(v:, 'progpath', get(v:, 'progname')))
@@ -392,8 +393,12 @@ function! s:latexmk_build_cmd() " {{{1
   endif
 
   let cmd .= ' -verbose -pdf ' . g:vimtex_latexmk_options
-  let cmd .= ' -e ' . vimtex#util#shellescape(
-        \ '$pdflatex =~ s/^((.(?<!^internal(?=\s)))*?) /$1 -file-line-error /')
+
+  if g:vimtex_latexmk_file_line_error
+    let cmd .= ' -e ' . vimtex#util#shellescape(
+          \ '$pdflatex =~ s/ / -file-line-error /')
+  endif
+
   if g:vimtex_latexmk_build_dir !=# ''
     let cmd .= ' -outdir=' . g:vimtex_latexmk_build_dir
   endif
@@ -431,6 +436,8 @@ function! s:latexmk_build_cmd() " {{{1
     else
       let cmd .= ' >' . tmp . ' 2>&1'
     endif
+  elseif has('win32')
+    let cmd = 'cmd /c "' . cmd . '"'
   endif
 
   let exe.cmd  = cmd
diff --git a/autoload/vimtex/util.vim b/autoload/vimtex/util.vim
index db1c0ea..e7fab23 100644
--- a/autoload/vimtex/util.vim
+++ b/autoload/vimtex/util.vim
@@ -120,19 +120,21 @@ function! vimtex#util#execute(exe) " {{{1
 endfunction
 
 " }}}1
-function! vimtex#util#shellescape(path) " {{{1
-  " Blackslashes in path must be escaped to be correctly parsed by the
-  " substitute() function.
-  let l:path = has('win32') ? escape(a:path, '\') : a:path
-
-  "
-  " In a Windows environment, a path used in "cmd" only needs to be enclosed by
-  " double quotes. shellescape() on Windows with "shellslash" set will produce
-  " a path enclosed by single quotes, which "cmd" does not recognize and
-  " reports an error.  Any path that goes into vimtex#util#execute() should be
-  " processed through this function.
-  "
-  return has('win32') ? '"' . l:path . '"' : shellescape(l:path, 1)
+function! vimtex#util#shellescape(cmd) " {{{1
+  if has('win32')
+    "
+    " Path used in "cmd" only needs to be enclosed by double quotes.
+    " shellescape() on Windows with "shellslash" set will produce a path
+    " enclosed by single quotes, which "cmd" does not recognize and reports an
+    " error.
+    "
+    " Blackslashes in path must be escaped to be correctly parsed by the
+    " substitute() function.
+    "
+    return '"' . escape(a:cmd, '\') . '"'
+  else
+    return shellescape(a:cmd)
+  endif
 endfunction
 
 " }}}1
diff --git a/doc/vimtex.txt b/doc/vimtex.txt
index 86368e3..bdccf82 100644
--- a/doc/vimtex.txt
+++ b/doc/vimtex.txt
@@ -528,6 +528,13 @@ Options~
 
   Default value: 1
 
+*g:vimtex_latexmk_file_line_error*
+  If enabled, |vimtex| will append the `-file-line-error` argument to `latexmk`.
+  This will help when parsing the log for errors and warnings, and should be
+  turned on in most cases.
+
+  Default value: 1
+
 *g:vimtex_latexmk_background*
   If continuous mode is disabled, then this option may be used to set
   whether single shot compilations should be run in the foreground or the