diff --git a/ChangeLog.md b/ChangeLog.md
index 93cfc9ee7f361..8531dba66fda7 100644
--- a/ChangeLog.md
+++ b/ChangeLog.md
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ See docs/process.md for more on how version tagging works.
 
 2.0.21
 ------
+- Options such as EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS that can take a response file containing
+  list of symbols can now use a simple one-symbol-per-line format.  This new
+  format is much simpler and doesn't require commas between symbols, opening
+  or closing braces, or any kind of escaping for special characters.
 - The WebAssembly linker (`wasm-ld`) now performes string tail merging on any
   static string data in your program.   This has long been part of the native
   ELF linker and should not be observable in well-behaved programs.  This
diff --git a/docs/emcc.txt b/docs/emcc.txt
index 4d0227d6e476a..1a6c230191d06 100644
--- a/docs/emcc.txt
+++ b/docs/emcc.txt
@@ -123,16 +123,16 @@ Options that are modified or new in *emcc* are listed below:
         -s "EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS=['liblib.so']"
 
    You can also specify that the value of an option will be read from
-   a specified JSON-formatted file. For example, the following option
-   sets the "EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS" option with the contents of the file
-   at **path/to/file**.
+   a file. For example, the following will set "EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS"
+   based on the contents of the file at **path/to/file**.
 
       -s EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS=@/path/to/file
 
    Note:
 
-     * In this case the file might contain a JSON-formatted list of
-       functions: "["_func1", "func2"]".
+     * In this case the file should contain a list of symbols, one per
+       line.  For legacy use cases JSON-formatted files are also
+       supported: e.g. "["_func1", "func2"]".
 
      * The specified file path must be absolute, not relative.
 
diff --git a/emcc.py b/emcc.py
index 3c9e1f46da61c..589f245c07933 100755
--- a/emcc.py
+++ b/emcc.py
@@ -360,6 +360,7 @@ def standardize_setting_change(key, value):
     if key in MEM_SIZE_SETTINGS:
       value = str(expand_byte_size_suffixes(value))
 
+    filename = None
     if value and value[0] == '@':
       filename = value[1:]
       if not os.path.exists(filename):
@@ -371,10 +372,14 @@ def standardize_setting_change(key, value):
     existing = getattr(settings, user_key, None)
     expect_list = type(existing) == list
 
-    try:
-      value = parse_value(value, expect_list)
-    except Exception as e:
-      exit_with_error('a problem occurred in evaluating the content after a "-s", specifically "%s=%s": %s', key, value, str(e))
+    if filename and expect_list and value.strip()[0] != '[':
+      # Prefer simpler one-line-per value parser
+      value = parse_symbol_list_file(value)
+    else:
+      try:
+        value = parse_value(value, expect_list)
+      except Exception as e:
+        exit_with_error('a problem occurred in evaluating the content after a "-s", specifically "%s=%s": %s', key, value, str(e))
 
     # Do some basic type checking by comparing to the existing settings.
     # Sadly we can't do this generically in the SettingsManager since there are settings
@@ -3573,6 +3578,15 @@ def in_directory(root, child):
   return False
 
 
+def parse_symbol_list_file(contents):
+  """Parse contents of one-symbol-per-line response file.  This format can by used
+  with, for example, -sEXPORTED_FUNCTIONS=@filename and avoids the need for any
+  kind of quoting or escaping.
+  """
+  values = contents.splitlines()
+  return [v.strip() for v in values]
+
+
 def parse_value(text, expect_list):
   # Note that using response files can introduce whitespace, if the file
   # has a newline at the end. For that reason, we rstrip() in relevant
diff --git a/site/source/docs/tools_reference/emcc.rst b/site/source/docs/tools_reference/emcc.rst
index 66b6881bbd38c..53d637721cd11 100644
--- a/site/source/docs/tools_reference/emcc.rst
+++ b/site/source/docs/tools_reference/emcc.rst
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ Options that are modified or new in *emcc* are listed below:
       -s EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS="['liblib.so']"
       -s "EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS=['liblib.so']"
 
-  You can also specify that the value of an option will be read from a specified JSON-formatted file. For example, the following option sets the ``EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS`` option with the contents of the file at **path/to/file**.
+  You can also specify that the value of an option will be read from a file. For example, the following will set ``EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS`` based on the contents of the file at **path/to/file**.
 
   ::
 
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ Options that are modified or new in *emcc* are listed below:
 
   .. note::
 
-    - In this case the file might contain a JSON-formatted list of functions: ``["_func1", "func2"]``.
+    - In this case the file should contain a list of symbols, one per line.  For legacy use cases JSON-formatted files are also supported: e.g. ``["_func1", "func2"]``.
     - The specified file path must be absolute, not relative.
 
   .. note:: Options can be specified as a single argument without a space
diff --git a/tests/test_browser.py b/tests/test_browser.py
index 8c6d63b3a056c..d9ab6d2a6ece8 100644
--- a/tests/test_browser.py
+++ b/tests/test_browser.py
@@ -3299,7 +3299,7 @@ def test_async_iostream(self):
   })
   def test_async_returnvalue(self, args):
     if '@' in str(args):
-      create_file('filey.txt', '["sync_tunnel", "sync_tunnel_bool"]')
+      create_file('filey.txt', 'sync_tunnel\nsync_tunnel_bool\n')
     self.btest('browser/async_returnvalue.cpp', '0', args=['-s', 'ASYNCIFY', '-s', 'ASYNCIFY_IGNORE_INDIRECT', '--js-library', test_file('browser/async_returnvalue.js')] + args + ['-s', 'ASSERTIONS'])
 
   def test_async_stack_overflow(self):
diff --git a/tests/test_other.py b/tests/test_other.py
index ff170da97c1a9..79b0196eea0e9 100644
--- a/tests/test_other.py
+++ b/tests/test_other.py
@@ -6218,12 +6218,16 @@ def test_dash_s_link_flag(self):
     self.assertContained('hello, world!', self.run_js('a.out.js'))
 
   def test_dash_s_response_file_string(self):
-    create_file('response_file', '"MyModule"\n')
-    self.run_process([EMXX, test_file('hello_world.cpp'), '-s', 'EXPORT_NAME=@response_file'])
+    create_file('response_file.txt', 'MyModule\n')
+    create_file('response_file.json', '"MyModule"\n')
+    self.run_process([EMXX, test_file('hello_world.cpp'), '-s', 'EXPORT_NAME=@response_file.txt'])
+    self.run_process([EMXX, test_file('hello_world.cpp'), '-s', 'EXPORT_NAME=@response_file.json'])
 
   def test_dash_s_response_file_list(self):
-    create_file('response_file', '["_main", "_malloc"]\n')
-    self.run_process([EMXX, test_file('hello_world.cpp'), '-s', 'EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS=@response_file'])
+    create_file('response_file.txt', '_main\n_malloc\n')
+    create_file('response_file.json', '["_main", "_malloc"]\n')
+    self.run_process([EMXX, test_file('hello_world.cpp'), '-s', 'EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS=@response_file.txt'])
+    self.run_process([EMXX, test_file('hello_world.cpp'), '-s', 'EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS=@response_file.json'])
 
   def test_dash_s_response_file_misssing(self):
     err = self.expect_fail([EMXX, test_file('hello_world.cpp'), '-s', 'EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS=@foo'])
@@ -8095,12 +8099,19 @@ def test_dash_s_list_parsing(self):
         void c() { printf("c\n"); }
         void d() { printf("d\n"); }
       ''')
-    create_file('response', r'''[
+    create_file('response.json', '''\
+[
 "_a",
 "_b",
 "_c",
 "_d"
 ]
+''')
+    create_file('response.txt', '''\
+_a
+_b
+_c
+_d
 ''')
 
     for export_arg, expected in [
@@ -8115,7 +8126,9 @@ def test_dash_s_list_parsing(self):
       # extra space at end - should be ignored
       ("EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS=['_a', '_b', '_c', '_d' ]", ''),
       # extra newline in response file - should be ignored
-      ("EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS=@response", ''),
+      ("EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS=@response.json", ''),
+      # Simple one-per-line response file format
+      ("EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS=@response.txt", ''),
       # stray slash
       ("EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS=['_a', '_b', \\'_c', '_d']", '''undefined exported symbol: "\\\\'_c'"'''),
       # stray slash
@@ -8132,6 +8145,9 @@ def test_dash_s_list_parsing(self):
       print(proc.stderr)
       if not expected:
         self.assertFalse(proc.stderr)
+        js = open('a.out.js').read()
+        for sym in ('_a', '_b', '_c', '_d'):
+          self.assertContained(f'var {sym} = ', js)
       else:
         self.assertNotEqual(proc.returncode, 0)
         self.assertContained(expected, proc.stderr)
@@ -8143,16 +8159,18 @@ def test_asyncify_escaping(self):
     self.assertContained('Try to quote the entire argument', proc.stderr)
 
   def test_asyncify_response_file(self):
-    return self.skipTest(' TODO remove the support for multiple binaryen versions warning output ("function name" vs "pattern" etc).')
     create_file('a.txt', r'''[
   "DOS_ReadFile(unsigned short, unsigned char*, unsigned short*, bool)"
 ]
 ''')
-    proc = self.run_process([EMCC, test_file('hello_world.c'), '-s', 'ASYNCIFY', '-s', "ASYNCIFY_ONLY=@a.txt"], stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE)
-    # we should parse the response file properly, and then issue a proper warning for the missing function
-    self.assertContained(
-        'Asyncify onlylist contained a non-matching pattern: DOS_ReadFile(unsigned short, unsigned char*, unsigned short*, bool)',
-        proc.stderr)
+
+    create_file('b.txt', 'DOS_ReadFile(unsigned short, unsigned char*, unsigned short*, bool)')
+    for file in ('a.txt', 'b.txt'):
+      proc = self.run_process([EMCC, test_file('hello_world.c'), '-sASYNCIFY', f'-sASYNCIFY_ONLY=@{file}'], stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE)
+      # we should parse the response file properly, and then issue a proper warning for the missing function
+      self.assertContained(
+          'Asyncify onlylist contained a non-matching pattern: DOS_ReadFile(unsigned short, unsigned char*, unsigned short*, bool)',
+          proc.stderr)
 
   def test_asyncify_advise(self):
     src = test_file('other/asyncify_advise.c')