diff --git a/src/parallel b/src/parallel
index 9da42998..5d08e683 100755
--- a/src/parallel
+++ b/src/parallel
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ use File::Basename;
 
 sub set_input_source_header($$) {
     my ($command_ref,$input_source_fh_ref) = @_;
-    if($opt::header and not $opt::pipe) {
+    if(defined $opt::header and not $opt::pipe) {
 	# split with colsep or \t
 	# $header force $colsep = \t if undef?
 	my $delimiter = defined $opt::colsep ? $opt::colsep : "\t";
@@ -48,30 +48,53 @@ sub set_input_source_header($$) {
 	# regexp for =}
 	my $right = "\Q$Global::parensright\E";
 	my $r = $Global::parensright;
-	my $id = 1;
-	for my $fh (@$input_source_fh_ref) {
-	    my $line = <$fh>;
-	    chomp($line);
-	    $line =~ s/\r$//;
-	    ::debug("init", "Delimiter: '$delimiter'");
-	    for my $s (split /$delimiter/o, $line) {
-		::debug("init", "Colname: '$s'");
-		# Replace {colname} with {2}
-		for(@$command_ref, @Global::ret_files,
-		    @Global::transfer_files, $opt::tagstring,
-		    $opt::workdir, $opt::results, $opt::retries,
-		    @Global::template_contents, @Global::template_names,
-		    @opt::filter) {
-		    # Skip if undefined
-		    $_ or next;
-		  s:\{$s(|/|//|\.|/\.)\}:\{$id$1\}:g;
-		    # {=header1 ... =}  =>  {=1 ... =}
-		  s:$left $s (.*?) $right:$l$id$1$r:gx;
+	if($opt::header ne "0") {
+	    my $id = 1;
+	    for my $fh (@$input_source_fh_ref) {
+		my $line = <$fh>;
+		chomp($line);
+		$line =~ s/\r$//;
+		::debug("init", "Delimiter: '$delimiter'");
+		for my $s (split /$delimiter/o, $line) {
+		    ::debug("init", "Colname: '$s'");
+		    # Replace {colname} with {2}
+		    for(@$command_ref, @Global::ret_files,
+			@Global::transfer_files, $opt::tagstring,
+			$opt::workdir, $opt::results, $opt::retries,
+			@Global::template_contents, @Global::template_names,
+			@opt::filter) {
+			# Skip if undefined
+			$_ or next;
+		      s:\{$s(|/|//|\.|/\.)\}:\{$id$1\}:g;
+			# {=header1 ... =}  =>  {=1 ... =}
+		      s:$left $s (.*?) $right:$l$id$1$r:gx;
+		    }
+		    $Global::input_source_header{$id} = $s;
+		    $id++;
 		}
-		$Global::input_source_header{$id} = $s;
-		$id++;
 	    }
 	}
+	# Make it possible to do:
+	# parallel --header 0 echo {file2} {file1} :::: file1 file2
+	my $id = 1;
+	for my $s (@opt::a) {
+	    # ::: are put into files and given a filehandle
+	    # ignore these and only keep the filenames.
+	    fileno $s and next;	    
+	    for(@$command_ref, @Global::ret_files,
+		@Global::transfer_files, $opt::tagstring,
+		$opt::workdir, $opt::results, $opt::retries,
+		@Global::template_contents, @Global::template_names,
+		@opt::filter) {
+		# Skip if undefined
+		$_ or next;
+	      s:\{$s(|/|//|\.|/\.)\}:\{$id$1\}:g;
+		# {=header1 ... =}  =>  {=1 ... =}
+	      s:$left $s (.*?) $right:$l$id$1$r:gx;
+	    }
+	    $Global::input_source_header{$id} = $s;
+	    $id++;
+	}
     } else {
 	my $id = 1;
 	for my $fh (@$input_source_fh_ref) {
diff --git a/src/parallel.pod b/src/parallel.pod
index 6b31c7a7..78e3793e 100644
--- a/src/parallel.pod
+++ b/src/parallel.pod
@@ -1265,7 +1265,7 @@ soon,fail=1-99%
 =back
 
 
-=item B<--header> I<regexp>
+=item B<--header> I<regexp> (alpha testing)
 
 Use regexp as header.
 
@@ -1282,7 +1282,11 @@ B<--header :> is an alias for B<--header '.*\n'>.
 
 If I<regexp> is a number, it is a fixed number of lines.
 
-See also: B<--colsep> B<--pipe> B<--pipe-part>
+B<--header 0> is special: It will make replacement strings for files
+given with B<--arg-file> or B<::::>. It will make B<{foo/bar}> for the
+file B<foo/bar>.
+
+See also: B<--colsep> B<--pipe> B<--pipe-part> B<--arg-file>
 
 
 =item B<--hostgroups>
diff --git a/testsuite/tests-to-run/parallel-local-0.3s.sh b/testsuite/tests-to-run/parallel-local-0.3s.sh
index fb7fbec2..50e07807 100644
--- a/testsuite/tests-to-run/parallel-local-0.3s.sh
+++ b/testsuite/tests-to-run/parallel-local-0.3s.sh
@@ -63,32 +63,6 @@ par_ctagstring() {
     parallel --ctagstring 'I{1}\tB{2}' echo ::: 1 ::: a | wc -c
 }
 
-par_plus() {
-    echo '### --plus'
-    echo '(It is OK to start with extra / or end with extra .)'
-    parallel -k --plus echo {} = {+/}/{/} = {.}.{+.} = {+/}/{/.}.{+.} = \
-             {..}.{+..} = {+/}/{/..}.{+..} = {...}.{+...} = \
-             {+/}/{/...}.{+...} \
-	     ::: a a.b a.b.c a.b.c.d a/1 a.b/1.2 a.b.c/1.2.3 a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4
-    
-    echo '### Test {%...} {%%...} {#...} {##...}'
-    a=z.z.z.foo
-    echo ${a#z*z.}
-    parallel --plus echo {#z.*z.} ::: z.z.z.foo
-    echo ${a##z*z.}
-    parallel --plus echo {##z.*z.} ::: z.z.z.foo
-
-    a=foo.z.z.z
-    echo ${a%.z.z}
-    parallel --plus echo {%.z.z} ::: foo.z.z.z
-    echo ${a%%.z*z}
-    parallel --plus echo {%%.z.*z} ::: foo.z.z.z
-
-    parallel -k --plus echo {uniq} ::: A B C  ::: A B C  ::: A B C
-    parallel -k --plus echo {1uniq}+{2uniq}+{3uniq} ::: A B C  ::: A B C  ::: A B C
-    parallel -k --plus echo {choose_k} ::: A B C D ::: A B C D ::: A B C D
-}
-
 par_env_parallel_pipefail() {
     cat <<'EOF' | bash
     echo "### test env_parallel with pipefail + inherit_errexit"
diff --git a/testsuite/tests-to-run/parallel-local-1s.sh b/testsuite/tests-to-run/parallel-local-1s.sh
index 0bf3362a..c4e61738 100644
--- a/testsuite/tests-to-run/parallel-local-1s.sh
+++ b/testsuite/tests-to-run/parallel-local-1s.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,63 @@
 # Each should be taking 1-3s and be possible to run in parallel
 # I.e.: No race conditions, no logins
 
+par_plus() {
+    echo '### --plus'
+    echo '(It is OK to start with extra / or end with extra .)'
+    parallel -k --plus echo {} = {+/}/{/} = {.}.{+.} = {+/}/{/.}.{+.} = \
+             {..}.{+..} = {+/}/{/..}.{+..} = {...}.{+...} = \
+             {+/}/{/...}.{+...} \
+	     ::: a a.b a.b.c a.b.c.d a/1 a.b/1.2 a.b.c/1.2.3 a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4
+    
+    echo '### Test {%...} {%%...} {#...} {##...}'
+    a=z.z.z.foo
+    echo ${a#z*z.}
+    parallel --plus echo {#z.*z.} ::: z.z.z.foo
+    echo ${a##z*z.}
+    parallel --plus echo {##z.*z.} ::: z.z.z.foo
+
+    a=foo.z.z.z
+    echo ${a%.z.z}
+    parallel --plus echo {%.z.z} ::: foo.z.z.z
+    echo ${a%%.z*z}
+    parallel --plus echo {%%.z.*z} ::: foo.z.z.z
+
+    parallel -k --plus echo {uniq} ::: A B C  ::: A B C  ::: A B C
+    parallel -k --plus echo {1uniq}+{2uniq}+{3uniq} ::: A B C  ::: A B C  ::: A B C
+    parallel -k --plus echo {choose_k} ::: A B C D ::: A B C D ::: A B C D
+}
+
+par_file_rpl() {
+    echo '### file as replacement string'
+    tmp="$(mktemp)"
+    (
+	echo contest1
+	echo contest2
+	echo File name "$tmp"
+    ) > "$tmp"
+    (
+	# {filename}
+	parallel -k --header 0 echo {"$tmp"} :::: "$tmp"
+	# Conflict: both {filename} and {/regexp/rpl}
+	parallel -k --plus echo {"$tmp"} :::: "$tmp"
+	parallel -k --header 0 --plus echo {"$tmp"} :::: "$tmp"
+	tmpd="$(mktemp -d)"
+	cd "$tmpd"
+	# Conflict: both {filename} and {n}
+	seq 1 > 1
+	seq 2 > 2
+	seq 3 > 3
+	parallel -k echo {1} :::: 3 2 1
+	parallel -k --header 0 echo {1} :::: 3 2 1
+	# Conflict: both {filename} and {=expr=}
+	seq 3 > =chop=
+	parallel -k echo  {=chop=} ::: =chop=
+	parallel -k --header 0 echo  {=chop=} ::: =chop=
+	rm -rf "$tmpd"
+    ) | perl -pe 's/tmp\.\w+/tmp.XXXXXX/g'
+    rm "$tmp"
+}
+
 par_commandline_with_newline() {
     echo 'bug #51299: --retry-failed with command with newline'
     echo 'The format must remain the same'
diff --git a/testsuite/wanted-results/parallel-local-0.3s b/testsuite/wanted-results/parallel-local-0.3s
index 6429c0d4..72eab31e 100644
--- a/testsuite/wanted-results/parallel-local-0.3s
+++ b/testsuite/wanted-results/parallel-local-0.3s
@@ -765,41 +765,6 @@ par_pipepart_triple_colon	### bug #62311: --pipepart + ::: fail
 par_pipepart_triple_colon	      1       1       2
 par_pipepart_triple_colon	      1       1       2
 par_pipepart_triple_colon	      1       1       2
-par_plus	### --plus
-par_plus	(It is OK to start with extra / or end with extra .)
-par_plus	a = /a = a. = /a. = a. = /a. = a. = /a.
-par_plus	a.b = /a.b = a.b = /a.b = a.b. = /a.b. = a.b. = /a.b.
-par_plus	a.b.c = /a.b.c = a.b.c = /a.b.c = a.b.c = /a.b.c = a.b.c. = /a.b.c.
-par_plus	a.b.c.d = /a.b.c.d = a.b.c.d = /a.b.c.d = a.b.c.d = /a.b.c.d = a.b.c.d = /a.b.c.d
-par_plus	a/1 = a/1 = a/1. = a/1. = a/1. = a/1. = a/1. = a/1.
-par_plus	a.b/1.2 = a.b/1.2 = a.b/1.2 = a.b/1.2 = a.b/1.2. = a.b/1.2. = a.b/1.2. = a.b/1.2.
-par_plus	a.b.c/1.2.3 = a.b.c/1.2.3 = a.b.c/1.2.3 = a.b.c/1.2.3 = a.b.c/1.2.3 = a.b.c/1.2.3 = a.b.c/1.2.3. = a.b.c/1.2.3.
-par_plus	a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4 = a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4 = a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4 = a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4 = a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4 = a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4 = a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4 = a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4
-par_plus	### Test {%...} {%%...} {#...} {##...}
-par_plus	z.foo
-par_plus	z.foo
-par_plus	foo
-par_plus	foo
-par_plus	foo.z
-par_plus	foo.z
-par_plus	foo
-par_plus	foo
-par_plus	A B C
-par_plus	A C B
-par_plus	B A C
-par_plus	B C A
-par_plus	C A B
-par_plus	C B A
-par_plus	A+B+C
-par_plus	A+C+B
-par_plus	B+A+C
-par_plus	B+C+A
-par_plus	C+A+B
-par_plus	C+B+A
-par_plus	A B C
-par_plus	A B D
-par_plus	A C D
-par_plus	B C D
 par_profile	### Test -J profile, -J /dir/profile, -J ./profile
 par_profile	local	local
 par_profile	abs	abs
diff --git a/testsuite/wanted-results/parallel-local-1s b/testsuite/wanted-results/parallel-local-1s
index 968613b1..3caad3c0 100644
--- a/testsuite/wanted-results/parallel-local-1s
+++ b/testsuite/wanted-results/parallel-local-1s
@@ -123,6 +123,30 @@ par_empty_string_command_line	ole
 par_empty_string_command_line	bar
 par_eof_on_command_line_input_source	### Test of eof string on :::
 par_eof_on_command_line_input_source	foo
+par_file_rpl	### file as replacement string
+par_file_rpl	contest1
+par_file_rpl	contest2
+par_file_rpl	File name /tmp/parallel-local-1s-tmpdir/tmp.XXXXXX
+par_file_rpl	contest1
+par_file_rpl	contest2
+par_file_rpl	File name /parallel-local-1s-tmpdir/tmp.XXXXXX/parallel-local-1s-tmpdir/tmp.XXXXXX
+par_file_rpl	contest1
+par_file_rpl	contest2
+par_file_rpl	File name /tmp/parallel-local-1s-tmpdir/tmp.XXXXXX
+par_file_rpl	1
+par_file_rpl	1
+par_file_rpl	2
+par_file_rpl	2
+par_file_rpl	3
+par_file_rpl	3
+par_file_rpl	1
+par_file_rpl	1
+par_file_rpl	1
+par_file_rpl	1
+par_file_rpl	1
+par_file_rpl	1
+par_file_rpl	=chop
+par_file_rpl	=chop
 par_header	### Test --header with -N
 par_header	Start
 par_header	h1
@@ -408,6 +432,41 @@ par_pipepart_block	17-20
 par_pipepart_block	18-20
 par_pipepart_block	19-20
 par_pipepart_block	20-20
+par_plus	### --plus
+par_plus	(It is OK to start with extra / or end with extra .)
+par_plus	a = /a = a. = /a. = a. = /a. = a. = /a.
+par_plus	a.b = /a.b = a.b = /a.b = a.b. = /a.b. = a.b. = /a.b.
+par_plus	a.b.c = /a.b.c = a.b.c = /a.b.c = a.b.c = /a.b.c = a.b.c. = /a.b.c.
+par_plus	a.b.c.d = /a.b.c.d = a.b.c.d = /a.b.c.d = a.b.c.d = /a.b.c.d = a.b.c.d = /a.b.c.d
+par_plus	a/1 = a/1 = a/1. = a/1. = a/1. = a/1. = a/1. = a/1.
+par_plus	a.b/1.2 = a.b/1.2 = a.b/1.2 = a.b/1.2 = a.b/1.2. = a.b/1.2. = a.b/1.2. = a.b/1.2.
+par_plus	a.b.c/1.2.3 = a.b.c/1.2.3 = a.b.c/1.2.3 = a.b.c/1.2.3 = a.b.c/1.2.3 = a.b.c/1.2.3 = a.b.c/1.2.3. = a.b.c/1.2.3.
+par_plus	a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4 = a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4 = a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4 = a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4 = a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4 = a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4 = a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4 = a.b.c.d/1.2.3.4
+par_plus	### Test {%...} {%%...} {#...} {##...}
+par_plus	z.foo
+par_plus	z.foo
+par_plus	foo
+par_plus	foo
+par_plus	foo.z
+par_plus	foo.z
+par_plus	foo
+par_plus	foo
+par_plus	A B C
+par_plus	A C B
+par_plus	B A C
+par_plus	B C A
+par_plus	C A B
+par_plus	C B A
+par_plus	A+B+C
+par_plus	A+C+B
+par_plus	B+A+C
+par_plus	B+C+A
+par_plus	C+A+B
+par_plus	C+B+A
+par_plus	A B C
+par_plus	A B D
+par_plus	A C D
+par_plus	B C D
 par_profiles_with_space	### bug #42902: profiles containing arguments with space
 par_profiles_with_space	/bin/bash=/bin/bash
 par_profiles_with_space	echo '/bin/bash=/bin/bash'