diff --git a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit.hs b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit.hs
--- a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit.hs
+++ b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit.hs
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@
             let var = mplus (lookup ("CMDARGS_HELPER_" ++ show (map toUpper $ head $ modeNames m ++ [nam])) env)
                             (lookup "CMDARGS_HELPER" env)
             case var of
-                Nothing -> run =<< expandArgsAt =<< getArgs
+                Nothing -> run =<< (if modeExpandAt m then expandArgsAt else return) =<< getArgs
                 Just cmd -> do
                     res <- execute cmd m []
                     case res of
diff --git a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/ExpandArgsAt.hs b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/ExpandArgsAt.hs
--- a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/ExpandArgsAt.hs
+++ b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/ExpandArgsAt.hs
@@ -11,9 +11,15 @@
 --
 --   Any @\@@ directives in the files will be recursively expanded (raising an error
 --   if there is infinite recursion).
+--
+--   To supress @\@@ expansion, pass any @\@@ arguments after @--@.
 expandArgsAt :: [String] -> IO [String]
-expandArgsAt = fmap concat . mapM (f [] ".")
+expandArgsAt args = do
+        ebefore <- mapM (f [] ".") before
+        return $ concat ebefore ++ after
     where
+        (before,after) = break (== "--") args
+
         f seen dir ('@':x)
             | x `elem` seen = error $ unlines $
                 "System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.expandArgsAt, recursion in @ directives:" :
diff --git a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/Type.hs b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/Type.hs
--- a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/Type.hs
+++ b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/Type.hs
@@ -70,12 +70,16 @@
 --   * A list of flags ('modeGroupFlags')
 --
 --   * Optionally an unnamed argument ('modeArgs')
+--
+--  To produce the help information for a mode, either use 'helpText' or 'show'.
 data Mode a = Mode
     {modeGroupModes :: Group (Mode a) -- ^ The available sub-modes
     ,modeNames :: [Name] -- ^ The names assigned to this mode (for the root mode, this name is used as the program name)
     ,modeValue :: a -- ^ Value to start with
     ,modeCheck :: a -> Either String a -- ^ Check the value reprsented by a mode is correct, after applying all flags
     ,modeReform :: a -> Maybe [String] -- ^ Given a value, try to generate the input arguments.
+    ,modeExpandAt :: Bool -- ^ Expand @\@@ arguments with 'expandArgsAt', defaults to 'True', only applied if using an 'IO' processing function.
+                          --   Only the root 'Mode's value will be used.
     ,modeHelp :: Help -- ^ Help text
     ,modeHelpSuffix :: [String] -- ^ A longer help suffix displayed after a mode
     ,modeArgs :: ([Arg a], Maybe (Arg a)) -- ^ The unnamed arguments, a series of arguments, followed optionally by one for all remaining slots
@@ -204,7 +208,7 @@
 -- | Create an empty mode specifying only 'modeValue'. All other fields will usually be populated
 --   using record updates.
 modeEmpty :: a -> Mode a
-modeEmpty x = Mode mempty [] x Right (const Nothing) "" [] ([],Nothing) mempty
+modeEmpty x = Mode mempty [] x Right (const Nothing) True "" [] ([],Nothing) mempty
 
 -- | Create a mode with a name, an initial value, some help text, a way of processing arguments
 --   and a list of flags.
diff --git a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Helper.hs b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Helper.hs
--- a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Helper.hs
+++ b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Helper.hs
@@ -276,7 +276,8 @@
         ,add "modeGroupFlags" modeGroupFlags
         ,add "modeValue" modeValue
         ,add "modeCheck" modeCheck
-        ,add "modeReform" modeReform]
+        ,add "modeReform" modeReform
+        ,add "modeExpandAt" modeExpandAt]
     unpack x = let y = ctor "Mode" x in Mode
         {modeGroupModes = get "modeGroupModes" y
         ,modeNames = get "modeNames" y
@@ -286,7 +287,8 @@
         ,modeGroupFlags = get "modeGroupFlags" y
         ,modeValue = get "modeValue" y
         ,modeCheck = get "modeCheck" y
-        ,modeReform = get "modeReform" y}
+        ,modeReform = get "modeReform" y
+        ,modeExpandAt = get "modeExpandAt" y}
 
 instance Packer a => Packer (Flag a) where
     pack Flag{..} = Ctor "Flag"
diff --git a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/Ann.hs b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/Ann.hs
--- a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/Ann.hs
+++ b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/Ann.hs
@@ -26,4 +26,5 @@
     | ProgHelpArg [Ann]
     | ProgVersionArg [Ann]
     | ProgVerbosityArgs [Ann] [Ann]
+    | ProgNoAtExpand
       deriving (Eq,Ord,Show,Data,Typeable)
diff --git a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/Global.hs b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/Global.hs
--- a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/Global.hs
+++ b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/Global.hs
@@ -19,8 +19,14 @@
 
 
 global :: Prog_ -> Mode (CmdArgs Any)
-global x = setReform (reform y) $ setHelp y $ collapse $ assignGroups y
+global x = setReform (reform y) $ setHelp y $ setProgOpts x $ collapse $ assignGroups y
     where y = assignNames $ extraFlags x
+
+
+setProgOpts :: Prog_ -> Mode a -> Mode a
+setProgOpts p m = m{modeExpandAt = False -- not $ progNoAtExpand p
+                   ,modeGroupModes = fmap (setProgOpts p) $ modeGroupModes m}
+
 
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 -- COLLAPSE THE FLAGS/MODES UPWARDS
diff --git a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/Local.hs b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/Local.hs
--- a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/Local.hs
+++ b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/Local.hs
@@ -30,9 +30,10 @@
     ,progVerbosityArgs :: (Maybe Builtin_, Maybe Builtin_) -- (verbose, quiet)
     ,progHelpArg :: Maybe Builtin_
     ,progVersionArg :: Maybe Builtin_
+    ,progNoAtExpand :: Bool
     } deriving Show
 instance Default Prog_ where
-    def = Prog_ def def def def def (Just def) (Just def)
+    def = Prog_ def def def def def (Just def) (Just def) def
 
 progOutput f x = fromMaybe ["The " ++ progProgram x ++ " program"] $
     (builtinSummary =<< f x) `mplus` progSummary x
@@ -153,6 +154,7 @@
 progAnn (ProgHelpArg a) x = x{progHelpArg = builtinAnns (progHelpArg x) a}
 progAnn (ProgVersionArg a) x = x{progVersionArg = builtinAnns (progVersionArg x) a}
 progAnn (ProgVerbosityArgs a b) x = x{progVerbosityArgs=(builtinAnns (Just $ fromMaybe def $ fst $ progVerbosityArgs x) a, builtinAnns (Just $ fromMaybe def $ snd $ progVerbosityArgs x) b)}
+progAnn ProgNoAtExpand x = x{progNoAtExpand=True}
 progAnn a x | length (progModes x) == 1 = x{progModes = map (modeAnn a) $ progModes x}
 progAnn a x = err "program" $ show a
 
diff --git a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/UI.hs b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/UI.hs
--- a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/UI.hs
+++ b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Implicit/UI.hs
@@ -208,3 +208,13 @@
 -- > Sample{..} &= verbosityArgs [ignore] [name "silent", explicit]
 verbosityArgs :: [Ann] -> [Ann] -> Ann
 verbosityArgs = ProgVerbosityArgs
+
+
+-- | Program: \"Turn off \@ expansion.\"
+--
+--   Usually arguments starting with \@ are treated as a file containing
+--   a set of arguments. This annotation turns off that behaviour.
+--
+-- > Sample{..} &= noAtExpand
+noAtExpand :: Ann
+noAtExpand = ProgNoAtExpand
diff --git a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Test/Implicit/Tests.hs b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Test/Implicit/Tests.hs
--- a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Test/Implicit/Tests.hs
+++ b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Test/Implicit/Tests.hs
@@ -301,7 +301,19 @@
     ["--test16a=5"] === Test16 (MyInt 5) []
     ["--test16b=5","--test16b=82"] === Test16 (MyInt 12) [MyInt 5, MyInt 82]
 
+-- #552, @ directives not expanded after -- symbols
+-- not actually checked because this path doesn't go through processArgs
+data Test17 = Test17 {test17_ :: [String]} deriving (Eq,Show,Data,Typeable)
 
+mode17 = cmdArgsMode $ Test17 ([] &= args) &= noAtExpand
+
+test17 = do
+    let Tester{..} = tester "Test17" mode17
+    [] === Test17 []
+    ["test","of","this"] === Test17 ["test","of","this"]
+    ["test","--","@foo"] === Test17 ["test","@foo"]
+
+
 -- For some reason, these must be at the end, otherwise the Template Haskell
 -- stage restriction kicks in.
 
@@ -310,7 +322,7 @@
 demos = zipWith f [1..]
         [toDemo mode1, toDemo mode2, toDemo mode3, toDemo mode4, toDemo mode5, toDemo mode6
         ,toDemo mode7, toDemo mode8, toDemo mode9, toDemo mode10, toDemo mode11, toDemo mode12
-        ,toDemo mode13, toDemo mode14, toDemo mode15, toDemo mode16]
+        ,toDemo mode13, toDemo mode14, toDemo mode15, toDemo mode16, toDemo mode17]
     where f i x = x{modeHelp = "Testing various corner cases (" ++ show i ++ ")"}
 
 
diff --git a/cmdargs.cabal b/cmdargs.cabal
--- a/cmdargs.cabal
+++ b/cmdargs.cabal
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 cabal-version:      >= 1.6
 build-type:         Simple
 name:               cmdargs
-version:            0.9.5
+version:            0.9.6
 license:            BSD3
 license-file:       LICENSE
 category:           Console
@@ -88,6 +88,8 @@
 
 executable cmdargs
     main-is: Main.hs
+    if flag(quotation)
+        extensions: TemplateHaskell
     if flag(testprog) && flag(quotation)
         buildable: True
     else