diff --git a/proto/backend.proto b/proto/backend.proto
index b5ac530dd..2e0f76291 100644
--- a/proto/backend.proto
+++ b/proto/backend.proto
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ message BackendInput {
         int64 local_minutes_west = 22;
         string strip_av_tags = 23;
         string get_av_tags = 24;
+        string flag_av_tags = 25;
     }
 }
 
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ message BackendOutput {
         sint32 local_minutes_west = 22;
         string strip_av_tags = 23;
         GetAVTagsOut get_av_tags = 24;
+        string flag_av_tags = 25;
 
         BackendError error = 2047;
     }
diff --git a/pylib/anki/rsbackend.py b/pylib/anki/rsbackend.py
index 1d687a6bb..0dc726716 100644
--- a/pylib/anki/rsbackend.py
+++ b/pylib/anki/rsbackend.py
@@ -170,3 +170,6 @@ class RustBackend:
                 ).get_av_tags.av_tags,
             )
         )
+
+    def flag_av_tags(self, text: str) -> str:
+        return self._run_command(pb.BackendInput(flag_av_tags=text)).flag_av_tags
diff --git a/rslib/src/backend.rs b/rslib/src/backend.rs
index 18b475c48..201fbe7ce 100644
--- a/rslib/src/backend.rs
+++ b/rslib/src/backend.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ use crate::template::{
     render_card, without_legacy_template_directives, FieldMap, FieldRequirements, ParsedTemplate,
     RenderedNode,
 };
-use crate::text::{av_tags_in_string, strip_av_tags, AVTag};
+use crate::text::{av_tags_in_string, flag_av_tags, strip_av_tags, AVTag};
 use prost::Message;
 use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
 use std::path::PathBuf;
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ impl Backend {
             }
             Value::StripAvTags(text) => OValue::StripAvTags(strip_av_tags(&text).into()),
             Value::GetAvTags(text) => OValue::GetAvTags(self.get_av_tags(&text)),
+            Value::FlagAvTags(text) => OValue::FlagAvTags(flag_av_tags(&text).into()),
         })
     }
 
diff --git a/rslib/src/text.rs b/rslib/src/text.rs
index b3743d8d2..105643bba 100644
--- a/rslib/src/text.rs
+++ b/rslib/src/text.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 use htmlescape;
 use lazy_static::lazy_static;
-use regex::Regex;
+use regex::{Captures, Regex};
 use std::borrow::Cow;
 use std::collections::HashSet;
 use std::ptr;
@@ -78,6 +78,14 @@ pub fn strip_av_tags(text: &str) -> Cow<str> {
     AV_TAGS.replace_all(text, "")
 }
 
+pub fn flag_av_tags(text: &str) -> Cow<str> {
+    let mut idx = 0;
+    AV_TAGS.replace_all(text, |_caps: &Captures| {
+        let text = format!("[anki:play]{}[/anki:play]", idx);
+        idx += 1;
+        text
+    })
+}
 pub fn av_tags_in_string(text: &str) -> impl Iterator<Item = AVTag> {
     AV_TAGS.captures_iter(text).map(|caps| {
         if let Some(av_file) = caps.get(1) {
@@ -141,7 +149,7 @@ pub fn cloze_numbers_in_string(html: &str) -> HashSet<u16> {
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod test {
     use crate::text::{
-        av_tags_in_string, cloze_numbers_in_string, strip_av_tags, strip_html,
+        av_tags_in_string, cloze_numbers_in_string, flag_av_tags, strip_av_tags, strip_html,
         strip_html_preserving_image_filenames, AVTag,
     };
     use std::collections::HashSet;
@@ -192,5 +200,10 @@ mod test {
                 },
             ]
         );
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            flag_av_tags(s),
+            "abc[anki:play]0[/anki:play]def[anki:play]1[/anki:play]gh"
+        );
     }
 }