diff --git a/src/filesrch.c b/src/filesrch.c
index 2985e8373..d3e5e5ec3 100644
--- a/src/filesrch.c
+++ b/src/filesrch.c
@@ -477,6 +477,8 @@ char exttable[NUM_EXT_TABLE][5] = {
 	".txt", ".cfg", // exec
 	".wad", ".soc", ".lua"}; // addfile
 
+char filenamebuf[MAX_WADFILES][MAX_WADPATH];
+
 boolean preparefilemenu(void)
 {
 	DIR *dirhandle;
@@ -567,7 +569,7 @@ boolean preparefilemenu(void)
 			char *temp;
 			size_t len = strlen(dent->d_name)+1;
 			UINT8 ext = EXT_FOLDER;
-			size_t folder;
+			UINT8 folder;
 
 			if (!S_ISDIR(fsstat.st_mode)) // file
 			{
@@ -575,6 +577,25 @@ boolean preparefilemenu(void)
 					if (!strcasecmp(exttable[ext], dent->d_name+len-5)) break;
 				if (ext == NUM_EXT_TABLE) continue; // not an addfile-able (or exec-able) file
 				ext += EXT_START; // moving to be appropriate position
+
+				if (ext >= EXT_MD5)
+				{
+					size_t i;
+					for (i = 0; i < numwadfiles; i++)
+					{
+						if (!filenamebuf[i][0])
+						{
+							strncpy(filenamebuf[i], wadfiles[i]->filename, MAX_WADPATH);
+							filenamebuf[i][MAX_WADPATH - 1] = '\0';
+							nameonly(filenamebuf[i]);
+						}
+						if (strcasecmp(dent->d_name, filenamebuf[i]))
+							continue;
+						if (checkfilemd5(menupath, wadfiles[i]->md5sum))
+							ext |= EXT_LOADED;
+					}
+				}
+
 				folder = 0;
 			}
 			else
diff --git a/src/filesrch.h b/src/filesrch.h
index 84932fd60..6bbabb9be 100644
--- a/src/filesrch.h
+++ b/src/filesrch.h
@@ -42,11 +42,21 @@ typedef enum
 	EXT_START,
 	EXT_TXT = EXT_START,
 	EXT_CFG,
-	EXT_WAD,
+	EXT_MD5,
+	EXT_WAD = EXT_MD5,
 	EXT_SOC,
 	EXT_LUA, // allowed even if not HAVE_BLUA so that we can yell on load attempt
 	NUM_EXT,
-	NUM_EXT_TABLE = NUM_EXT-EXT_START
+	NUM_EXT_TABLE = NUM_EXT-EXT_START,
+	EXT_LOADED = 0x80
+	/*
+	obviously there can only be 0x7F supported extensions in
+	addons menu because we're cramming this into a char out of
+	laziness/easy memory allocation (what's the difference?)
+	and have stolen a bit to show whether it's loaded or not
+	in practice the size of the data type is probably overkill
+	toast 02/05/17
+	*/
 } ext_enum;
 
 boolean preparefilemenu(void);
diff --git a/src/m_menu.c b/src/m_menu.c
index 4cee61221..deda69616 100644
--- a/src/m_menu.c
+++ b/src/m_menu.c
@@ -4480,8 +4480,15 @@ static void M_DrawAddons(void)
 
 	for (i = dir_on[menudepthleft]; i < sizedirmenu; i++)
 	{
+		UINT32 flags = 0;
 		if (y > BASEVIDHEIGHT) break;
-		V_DrawString(x, y, ((dirmenu[dir_on[menudepthleft]][0] == EXT_UP) ? 0 : V_ALLOWLOWERCASE), dirmenu[i]+2);
+
+		if ((dirmenu[i][0] & ~EXT_LOADED) != EXT_UP)
+			flags = V_ALLOWLOWERCASE;
+		if (dirmenu[i][0] & EXT_LOADED)
+		flags |= V_TRANSLUCENT;
+
+		V_DrawString(x, y, flags, dirmenu[i]+2);
 		y += SMALLLINEHEIGHT;
 	}
 }
@@ -4492,7 +4499,7 @@ static void M_AddonExec(INT32 ch)
 		return;
 
 	S_StartSound(NULL, sfx_strpst);
-	COM_BufAddText(va("exec %s%s", menupath, dirmenu[dir_on[menudepthleft]]+2));
+	COM_ImmedExecute(va("exec %s%s", menupath, dirmenu[dir_on[menudepthleft]]+2));
 }
 
 static void M_HandleAddons(INT32 choice)
@@ -4562,7 +4569,7 @@ static void M_HandleAddons(INT32 choice)
 					case EXT_WAD:
 					case EXT_SOC:
 						S_StartSound(NULL, sfx_strpst);
-						COM_BufAddText(va("addfile %s%s", menupath, dirmenu[dir_on[menudepthleft]]+2));
+						COM_ImmedExecute(va("addfile %s%s", menupath, dirmenu[dir_on[menudepthleft]]+2));
 						break;
 					default:
 						S_StartSound(NULL, sfx_lose);