diff --git a/applets/taskmanager/package/contents/config/main.xml b/applets/taskmanager/package/contents/config/main.xml
--- a/applets/taskmanager/package/contents/config/main.xml
+++ b/applets/taskmanager/package/contents/config/main.xml
@@ -70,6 +70,9 @@
     <entry name="smartLaunchersEnabled" type="Bool">
       <default>true</default>
     </entry>
+    <entry name="experimentalQmlTextLabel" type="Bool">
+      <default>false</default>
+    </entry>
   </group>
 
 </kcfg>
diff --git a/applets/taskmanager/package/contents/ui/CppTextLabel.qml b/applets/taskmanager/package/contents/ui/CppTextLabel.qml
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/applets/taskmanager/package/contents/ui/CppTextLabel.qml
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/***************************************************************************
+ *   Copyright (C) 2016 by Eike Hein <hein@kde.org>                   *
+ *                                                                         *
+ *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify  *
+ *   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by  *
+ *   the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or     *
+ *   (at your option) any later version.                                   *
+ *                                                                         *
+ *   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,       *
+ *   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of        *
+ *   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the         *
+ *   GNU General Public License for more details.                          *
+ *                                                                         *
+ *   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License     *
+ *   along with this program; if not, write to the                         *
+ *   Free Software Foundation, Inc.,                                       *
+ *   51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA .        *
+ ***************************************************************************/
+
+import QtQuick 2.0
+
+import org.kde.plasma.private.taskmanager 0.1 as TaskManagerApplet
+
+TaskManagerApplet.TextLabel {
+    anchors.fill: parent
+
+    text: model.display
+    color: theme.textColor
+    elide: !inPopup
+}
diff --git a/applets/taskmanager/package/contents/ui/QmlTextLabel.qml b/applets/taskmanager/package/contents/ui/QmlTextLabel.qml
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/applets/taskmanager/package/contents/ui/QmlTextLabel.qml
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/***************************************************************************
+ *   Copyright (C) 2016 by Eike Hein <hein@kde.org>                   *
+ *                                                                         *
+ *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify  *
+ *   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by  *
+ *   the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or     *
+ *   (at your option) any later version.                                   *
+ *                                                                         *
+ *   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,       *
+ *   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of        *
+ *   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the         *
+ *   GNU General Public License for more details.                          *
+ *                                                                         *
+ *   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License     *
+ *   along with this program; if not, write to the                         *
+ *   Free Software Foundation, Inc.,                                       *
+ *   51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA .        *
+ ***************************************************************************/
+
+import QtQuick 2.0
+
+import org.kde.plasma.components 2.0 as PlasmaComponents
+
+PlasmaComponents.Label {
+    anchors.fill: parent
+
+    text: model.display
+    wrapMode: Text.Wrap
+    elide: Text.ElideRight
+    textFormat: Text.PlainText
+    verticalAlignment: Text.AlignVCenter
+}
diff --git a/applets/taskmanager/package/contents/ui/Task.qml b/applets/taskmanager/package/contents/ui/Task.qml
--- a/applets/taskmanager/package/contents/ui/Task.qml
+++ b/applets/taskmanager/package/contents/ui/Task.qml
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
     property int itemIndex: index
     property bool inPopup: false
     property bool initialGeometryExported: false
-    property int textWidth: label.implicitWidth
+    property alias textWidth: label.implicitTextWidth
     property bool pressed: false
     property int pressX: -1
     property int pressY: -1
@@ -365,9 +365,11 @@
         }
     }
 
-    TaskManagerApplet.TextLabel {
+    Loader {
         id: label
 
+        property int implicitTextWidth: label.item ? label.item.implicitWidth : 0
+
         anchors {
             fill: parent
             leftMargin: taskFrame.margins.left + iconBox.width + units.smallSpacing
@@ -379,11 +381,10 @@
         visible: (inPopup || !iconsOnly && model.IsLauncher !== true
             && (parent.width - iconBox.height - units.smallSpacing) >= (theme.mSize(theme.defaultFont).width * 7))
 
-        enabled: true
+        active: inPopup || !iconsOnly
+        asynchronous: true
 
-        text: (!inPopup && iconsOnly) ? "" : model.display
-        color: theme.textColor
-        elide: !inPopup
+        source: plasmoid.configuration.experimentalQmlTextLabel ? "QmlTextLabel.qml" : "CppTextLabel.qml"
     }
 
     states: [