diff --git a/src/mathed/MacroTable.cpp b/src/mathed/MacroTable.cpp
index d23855c511..2899e40c2e 100644
--- a/src/mathed/MacroTable.cpp
+++ b/src/mathed/MacroTable.cpp
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ bool MacroData::expand(vector<MathData> const & args, MathData & to) const
 	InsetMathSqrt inset(const_cast<Buffer *>(buffer_));
 
 	docstring const & definition(display_.empty() ? definition_ : display_);
-	asArray(definition, inset.cell(0), Parse::QUIET);
+	asArray(definition, inset.cell(0), Parse::QUIET | Parse::MACRODEF);
 	//lyxerr << "MathData::expand: args: " << args << endl;
 	//LYXERR0("MathData::expand: ar: " << inset.cell(0));
 	for (DocIterator it = doc_iterator_begin(buffer_, &inset); it; it.forwardChar()) {
diff --git a/src/mathed/MathMacro.cpp b/src/mathed/MathMacro.cpp
index 8f16e2b696..4bd14d6b72 100644
--- a/src/mathed/MathMacro.cpp
+++ b/src/mathed/MathMacro.cpp
@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ void MathMacro::updateRepresentation(Cursor * cur, MacroContext const & mc,
 	// get definition for list edit mode
 	docstring const & display = d->macro_->display();
 	asArray(display.empty() ? d->macro_->definition() : display,
-		d->definition_, Parse::QUIET);
+		d->definition_, Parse::QUIET | Parse::MACRODEF);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/mathed/MathParser.cpp b/src/mathed/MathParser.cpp
index ace167c439..9bc5ff9362 100644
--- a/src/mathed/MathParser.cpp
+++ b/src/mathed/MathParser.cpp
@@ -1757,7 +1757,8 @@ bool Parser::parse1(InsetMathGrid & grid, unsigned flags,
 
 			else {
 				success_ = false;
-				if (!(mode_ & Parse::QUIET)) {
+				if (!(mode_ & Parse::QUIET) &&
+				    !(mode_ & Parse::TRACKMACRO)) {
 					dump();
 					lyxerr << "found unknown math environment '"
 					       << to_utf8(name) << "'" << endl;
diff --git a/src/mathed/MathParser_flags.h b/src/mathed/MathParser_flags.h
index 9c9c4a3b95..fa9501abe3 100644
--- a/src/mathed/MathParser_flags.h
+++ b/src/mathed/MathParser_flags.h
@@ -28,7 +28,9 @@ enum flags {
 	/// Wrap unicode symbols in \text{}.
 	USETEXT = 0x08,
 	/// Track macro creation while loading a document
-	TRACKMACRO = 0x10
+	TRACKMACRO = 0x10,
+	/// Parse a macro definition
+	MACRODEF = 0x20
 };
 
 
diff --git a/src/mathed/MathSupport.cpp b/src/mathed/MathSupport.cpp
index 1c4f89ca8d..086d219c56 100644
--- a/src/mathed/MathSupport.cpp
+++ b/src/mathed/MathSupport.cpp
@@ -961,8 +961,13 @@ docstring asString(MathData const & ar)
 
 void asArray(docstring const & str, MathData & ar, Parse::flags pf)
 {
+	// If the QUIET flag is set, we are going to parse for either
+	// a paste operation or a macro definition. We try to do the
+	// right thing in all cases.
+
 	bool quiet = pf & Parse::QUIET;
-	if ((str.size() == 1 && quiet) || (!mathed_parse_cell(ar, str, pf) && quiet))
+	bool macro = pf & Parse::MACRODEF;
+	if ((str.size() == 1 && quiet) || (!mathed_parse_cell(ar, str, pf) && quiet && !macro))
 		mathed_parse_cell(ar, str, pf | Parse::VERBATIM);
 }