diff --git a/autoload/vimtex/view/zathura.vim b/autoload/vimtex/view/zathura.vim
index 7e0bc42c98..3bb4e79563 100644
--- a/autoload/vimtex/view/zathura.vim
+++ b/autoload/vimtex/view/zathura.vim
@@ -9,15 +9,7 @@ function! vimtex#view#zathura#new() abort " {{{1
 endfunction
 
 " }}}1
-
-
-let s:viewer = vimtex#view#_template#new({
-      \ 'name': 'Zathura',
-      \ 'xwin_id': 0,
-      \ 'has_synctex': 1,
-      \})
-
-function! s:viewer._check() dict abort " {{{1
+function! vimtex#view#zathura#check(viewer) abort " {{{1
   " Check if Zathura is executable
   if !executable('zathura')
     call vimtex#log#error('Zathura is not executable!')
@@ -30,13 +22,59 @@ function! s:viewer._check() dict abort " {{{1
     if v:shell_error == 0
           \ && empty(filter(l:shared, 'v:val =~# ''libsynctex'''))
       call vimtex#log#warning('Zathura is not linked to libsynctex!')
-      let s:viewer.has_synctex = 0
+      if has_key(a:viewer, 'has_synctex')
+        let a:viewer.has_synctex = 0
+      endif
     endif
   endif
 
   return v:true
 endfunction
 
+" }}}1
+function! vimtex#view#zathura#cmdline(outfile, synctex, start) abort " {{{1
+  let l:cmd  = 'zathura'
+
+  if a:start
+    let l:cmd .= ' ' . g:vimtex_view_zathura_options
+    if a:synctex
+      let l:cmd .= printf(
+            \ ' -x "%s -c \"VimtexInverseSearch %%{line} ''%%{input}''\""',
+            \ s:inverse_search_cmd)
+    endif
+  endif
+
+  if a:synctex && (a:start != 1 || g:vimtex_view_forward_search_on_start)
+    let l:cmd .= printf(
+          \ ' --synctex-forward %d:%d:%s',
+          \ line('.'), col('.'),
+          \ vimtex#util#shellescape(expand('%:p')))
+  endif
+
+  return l:cmd . ' '
+        \ . vimtex#util#shellescape(vimtex#paths#relative(a:outfile, getcwd()))
+        \ . '&'
+endfunction
+
+let s:inverse_search_cmd = get(g:, 'vimtex_callback_progpath',
+      \                        get(v:, 'progpath', get(v:, 'progname', '')))
+      \ . (has('nvim')
+      \   ? ' --headless'
+      \   : ' -T dumb --not-a-term -n')
+
+" }}}1
+
+
+let s:viewer = vimtex#view#_template#new({
+      \ 'name': 'Zathura',
+      \ 'has_synctex': 1,
+      \ 'xwin_id': 0,
+      \})
+
+function! s:viewer._check() dict abort " {{{1
+  return vimtex#view#zathura#check(self)
+endfunction
+
 " }}}1
 function! s:viewer._exists() dict abort " {{{1
   return self.xdo_exists()
@@ -44,7 +82,8 @@ endfunction
 
 " }}}1
 function! s:viewer._start(outfile) dict abort " {{{1
-  let self.cmd_start = s:cmdline(a:outfile, self.has_synctex, 1)
+  let self.cmd_start
+        \ = vimtex#view#zathura#cmdline(a:outfile, self.has_synctex, 1)
 
   call vimtex#jobs#run(self.cmd_start)
 
@@ -58,7 +97,8 @@ function! s:viewer._forward_search(outfile) dict abort " {{{1
   let l:synctex_file = fnamemodify(a:outfile, ':r') . '.synctex.gz'
   if !filereadable(l:synctex_file) | return | endif
 
-  let self.cmd_forward_search = s:cmdline(a:outfile, self.has_synctex, 0)
+  let self.cmd_forward_search
+        \ = vimtex#view#zathura#cmdline(a:outfile, self.has_synctex, 0)
 
   call vimtex#jobs#run(self.cmd_forward_search)
 endfunction
@@ -80,37 +120,3 @@ function! s:viewer.get_pid() dict abort " {{{1
 endfunction
 
 " }}}1
-
-
-function! s:cmdline(outfile, synctex, start) abort " {{{1
-  let l:cmd  = 'zathura'
-
-  if a:start
-    let l:cmd .= ' ' . g:vimtex_view_zathura_options
-    if a:synctex
-      let l:cmd .= printf(
-            \ ' -x "%s -c \"VimtexInverseSearch %%{line} ''%%{input}''\""',
-            \ s:inverse_search_cmd)
-    endif
-  endif
-
-  if a:synctex && (!a:start || g:vimtex_view_forward_search_on_start)
-    let l:cmd .= printf(
-          \ ' --synctex-forward %d:%d:%s',
-          \ line('.'), col('.'),
-          \ vimtex#util#shellescape(expand('%:p')))
-  endif
-
-  return l:cmd . ' '
-        \ . vimtex#util#shellescape(vimtex#paths#relative(a:outfile, getcwd()))
-        \ . '&'
-endfunction
-
-" }}}1
-
-
-let s:inverse_search_cmd = get(g:, 'vimtex_callback_progpath',
-      \                        get(v:, 'progpath', get(v:, 'progname', '')))
-      \ . (has('nvim')
-      \   ? ' --headless'
-      \   : ' -T dumb --not-a-term -n')
diff --git a/autoload/vimtex/view/zathura_simple.vim b/autoload/vimtex/view/zathura_simple.vim
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6b7725c97b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/autoload/vimtex/view/zathura_simple.vim
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+" VimTeX - LaTeX plugin for Vim
+"
+" Maintainer: Karl Yngve Lervåg
+" Email:      karl.yngve@gmail.com
+"
+
+function! vimtex#view#zathura_simple#new() abort " {{{1
+  return s:viewer.init()
+endfunction
+
+" }}}1
+
+
+let s:viewer = vimtex#view#_template#new({
+      \ 'name': 'Zathura',
+      \ 'has_synctex': 1,
+      \})
+
+function! s:viewer._check() dict abort " {{{1
+  return vimtex#view#zathura#check(self)
+endfunction
+
+" }}}1
+function! s:viewer._start(outfile) dict abort " {{{1
+  let self.cmd_start
+        \ = vimtex#view#zathura#cmdline(a:outfile, self.has_synctex, 2)
+
+  call vimtex#jobs#run(self.cmd_start)
+endfunction
+
+" }}}1
diff --git a/doc/vimtex.txt b/doc/vimtex.txt
index 234f4cad63..4c2a8fc5e7 100644
--- a/doc/vimtex.txt
+++ b/doc/vimtex.txt
@@ -3020,9 +3020,10 @@ OPTIONS                                                        *vimtex-options*
 
   Possible values:
     * `'general'`
-    * `'mupdf'`      |vimtex-view-mupdf|
-    * `'skim'`       |vimtex-view-skim|
-    * `'zathura'`    |vimtex-view-zathura|
+    * `'mupdf'`             |vimtex-view-mupdf|
+    * `'skim'`              |vimtex-view-skim|
+    * `'zathura'`           |vimtex-view-zathura|
+    * `'zathura_simple'`    |vimtex-view-zathura-simple|
 
   See |vimtex-view-configuration| for more information on various popular
   viewers and on how to configure them.
@@ -3042,8 +3043,10 @@ OPTIONS                                                        *vimtex-options*
 
 *g:vimtex_view_mupdf_options*
 *g:vimtex_view_zathura_options*
-  Set options for mupdf (|vimtex-view-mupdf|) and Zathura
-  (|vimtex-view-zathura|), respectively.
+  Set options for mupdf and Zathura, respectively. See also:
+    * |vimtex-view-mupdf|
+    * |vimtex-view-zathura|
+    * |vimtex-view-zathura-simple|
 
   Default value: ''
 
@@ -5575,6 +5578,16 @@ Note: Viewer handling uses window title matching. If there exists another pdf
       might be conflicts. In particular, this might affect forward/inverse
       searching for Zathura.
 
+                                                   *vimtex-view-zathura-simple*
+Zathura (simple) ~
+This is a simpler implementation of the Zathura viewer; the user should first
+read the docs for |vimtex-view-zathura|.
+
+This variant does not rely on `xdotool`. It leads to a much simpler version
+that should work well in most cases. However, `xdotool` is useful in order to
+prevent duplicate windows and to detect existing viewer windows when you start
+a VimTeX session.
+
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 SYNCTEX SUPPORT                                                *vimtex-synctex*