diff --git a/soundpack.pl b/soundpack.pl
index 88bb5cc..622d31e 100644
--- a/soundpack.pl
+++ b/soundpack.pl
@@ -47,8 +47,13 @@ sub notifier_soundpack {
         return 1;
     }
     
-    # Build sound file path using XDG data directory 
-    my $data_dir = "$ENV{'HOME'}/.local/share/ttyverse";
+    unless ($sound_pack =~ /^[A-Za-z0-9_.-]+$/ && $class =~ /^[A-Za-z0-9_.-]+$/) {
+        print $stdout "-- Warning: Invalid sound pack or notification class\n";
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    # Use the same XDG data directory as TTYverse and the extension manager.
+    my $data_dir = $data;
     my $sound_file = "$data_dir/sounds/$sound_pack/" . lc($class) . ".ogg";
     
     if (!-f $sound_file) {
@@ -62,9 +67,38 @@ sub notifier_soundpack {
         return 1;
     }
     
-    # Play the sound in background (suppress output)
+    require Text::ParseWords;
+    my @soundCommand = Text::ParseWords::shellwords($sound_command);
+    unless (scalar(@soundCommand)) {
+        print $stdout "-- Warning: Sound command is empty\n";
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    # Double-fork so playback cannot block the client and does not leave a
+    # child process waiting to be reaped. List-form exec avoids shell parsing.
     print $stdout "-- DEBUG: Playing sound: $sound_command \"$sound_file\"\n" if ($verbose);
-    system("$sound_command \"$sound_file\" >/dev/null 2>&1 &");
+    my $playerPid = fork();
+    unless (defined($playerPid)) {
+        print $stdout "-- Warning: Could not start sound player: $!\n";
+        return 1;
+    }
+    if (!$playerPid) {
+        # Prevent TTYverse's END handler from shutting down the main client
+        # when either detached playback process exits.
+        $in_backticks = 1;
+        my $playbackPid = fork();
+        exit 1 unless (defined($playbackPid));
+        exit 0 if ($playbackPid);
+
+        unless ($verbose) {
+            open(STDOUT, '>', '/dev/null');
+        }
+        if (!exec { $soundCommand[0] } @soundCommand, $sound_file) {
+            print STDERR "TTYverse could not execute sound player '$soundCommand[0]': $!\n";
+            exit 127;
+        }
+    }
+    waitpid($playerPid, 0);
     
     return 1;
 }