diff --git a/src/cmnds/cmd_if.c b/src/cmnds/cmd_if.c
index 9c70bb505..ec84611a2 100644
--- a/src/cmnds/cmd_if.c
+++ b/src/cmnds/cmd_if.c
@@ -662,7 +662,7 @@ void SIM_GenerateChannelStatesDesc(char *o, int outLen) {
 		}
 	}
 }
-
+#endif
 const char *CMD_ExpandConstantString(const char *s, const char *stop, char *out, int outLen) {
 	int idx;
 	const char *ret;
@@ -750,7 +750,6 @@ const char *CMD_ExpandConstantString(const char *s, const char *stop, char *out,
 	}
 	return false;
 }
-#endif
 
 const char* CMD_ExpandConstantToString(const char* constant, char* out, char* stop)
 {
diff --git a/src/cmnds/cmd_public.h b/src/cmnds/cmd_public.h
index 363828f8a..09e8c06d8 100644
--- a/src/cmnds/cmd_public.h
+++ b/src/cmnds/cmd_public.h
@@ -330,6 +330,7 @@ void SVM_RunThreads(int deltaMS);
 void CMD_InitScripting();
 void SVM_RunStartupCommandAsScript();
 byte* LFS_ReadFile(const char* fname);
+byte* LFS_ReadFileExpanding(const char* fname);
 int LFS_WriteFile(const char *fname, const byte *data, int len, bool bAppend);
 
 commandResult_t CMD_ClearAllHandlers(const void* context, const char* cmd, const char* args, int cmdFlags);
diff --git a/src/cmnds/cmd_tasmota.c b/src/cmnds/cmd_tasmota.c
index 7e604fe86..0ca27128f 100644
--- a/src/cmnds/cmd_tasmota.c
+++ b/src/cmnds/cmd_tasmota.c
@@ -270,6 +270,19 @@ byte *LFS_ReadFile(const char *fname) {
 #endif
 	return 0;
 }
+byte* LFS_ReadFileExpanding(const char* fname) {
+	byte *d = LFS_ReadFile(fname);
+	if (d == 0)
+		return;
+	const char *s = (const char *)d;
+	int vars = CMD_CountVarsInString(s);
+	if (vars == 0) {
+		return d;
+	}
+	char *r = CMD_ExpandingStrdup(s);
+	free(d);
+	return (byte*)r;
+}
 int LFS_WriteFile(const char *fname, const byte *data, int len, bool bAppend) {
 #if ENABLE_LITTLEFS
 	init_lfs(1);
diff --git a/src/mqtt/new_mqtt.c b/src/mqtt/new_mqtt.c
index 3b8c14ac8..c3c089307 100644
--- a/src/mqtt/new_mqtt.c
+++ b/src/mqtt/new_mqtt.c
@@ -1555,7 +1555,7 @@ commandResult_t MQTT_PublishFile(const void* context, const char* cmd, const cha
 	int flags = 0;
 	byte*data;
 
-	Tokenizer_TokenizeString(args, TOKENIZER_ALLOW_QUOTES | TOKENIZER_ALLOW_ESCAPING_QUOTATIONS);
+	Tokenizer_TokenizeString(args, TOKENIZER_ALLOW_QUOTES | TOKENIZER_ALLOW_ESCAPING_QUOTATIONS | TOKENIZER_EXPAND_EARLY);
 
 	if (Tokenizer_GetArgsCount() < 2) {
 		addLogAdv(LOG_INFO, LOG_FEATURE_MQTT, "Publish command requires two arguments (topic and value)");
@@ -1567,7 +1567,7 @@ commandResult_t MQTT_PublishFile(const void* context, const char* cmd, const cha
 	if (Tokenizer_GetArgIntegerDefault(2, 0) != 0) {
 		flags = OBK_PUBLISH_FLAG_RAW_TOPIC_NAME;
 	}
-	data = LFS_ReadFile(fname);
+	data = LFS_ReadFileExpanding(fname);
 	if (data) {
 		ret = MQTT_PublishMain_StringString(topic, (const char*)data, flags);
 		free(data);
diff --git a/src/selftest/selftest_mqtt.c b/src/selftest/selftest_mqtt.c
index 8eb7dec5d..aea5b1ef4 100644
--- a/src/selftest/selftest_mqtt.c
+++ b/src/selftest/selftest_mqtt.c
@@ -544,6 +544,32 @@ void Test_MQTT_Misc() {
 	SELFTEST_ASSERT_HAD_MQTT_PUBLISH_STR("homeassistant/cover/miscDevice/config", "{\"name\":\"miscDevice\",\"uniq_id\":\"miscDevice\",\"~\":\"miscDevice\",\"dev_cla\":\"shutter\",\"cmd_t\":\"~/backlog\",\"stat_t\":\"~/shutterState/get\",\"pl_open\":\"OPEN\",\"pl_cls\":\"CLOSE\",\"pl_stop\":\"STOP\",\"stat_o\":\"open\",\"stat_c\":\"closed\"}", false);
 	SIM_ClearMQTTHistory();
 
+
+	CMD_ExecuteCommand("lfs_format", 0);
+	// send file content as POST to REST interface
+	Test_FakeHTTPClientPacket_POST("api/lfs/unitTestFile.txt", "filetext");
+	// get this file 
+	CMD_ExecuteCommand("publishFile homeassistant/cover/$mqtt_client/config unitTestFile.txt 1", 0);
+	SELFTEST_ASSERT_HAD_MQTT_PUBLISH_STR("homeassistant/cover/miscDevice/config", "filetext", false);
+	SIM_ClearMQTTHistory();
+
+	CMD_ExecuteCommand("lfs_format", 0);
+	// send file content as POST to REST interface
+	Test_FakeHTTPClientPacket_POST("api/lfs/unitTestFile.txt", "My name is $mqtt_client");
+	// get this file 
+	CMD_ExecuteCommand("publishFile homeassistant/cover/$mqtt_client/config unitTestFile.txt 1", 0);
+	SELFTEST_ASSERT_HAD_MQTT_PUBLISH_STR("homeassistant/cover/miscDevice/config", "My name is miscDevice", false);
+	SIM_ClearMQTTHistory();
+
+	CMD_ExecuteCommand("lfs_format", 0);
+	CMD_ExecuteCommand("SetChannel 5 123", 0);
+	// send file content as POST to REST interface
+	Test_FakeHTTPClientPacket_POST("api/lfs/unitTestFile.txt", "My name is $mqtt_client $CH5");
+	// get this file 
+	CMD_ExecuteCommand("publishFile homeassistant/cover/$mqtt_client/config unitTestFile.txt 1", 0);
+	SELFTEST_ASSERT_HAD_MQTT_PUBLISH_STR("homeassistant/cover/miscDevice/config", "My name is miscDevice 123", false);
+	SIM_ClearMQTTHistory();
+
 	CMD_ExecuteCommand("addEventHandler OnChannelChange 5 publish myMagicResult $CH5", 0);
 	// set channel 5 to 50 and see what we get
 	SIM_SendFakeMQTTAndRunSimFrame_CMND("setChannel", "5 50");