diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 304d783..fcf9272 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ checksum = "f8ca58f447f06ed17d5fc4043ce1b10dd205e060fb3ce5b979b8ed8e59ff3f79"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "meta-memcache-socket"
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.2.1"
 dependencies = [
  "atoi",
  "base64",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index cec2e94..e8b6b42 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "meta-memcache-socket"
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.2.1"
 edition = "2024"
 
 [lib]
diff --git a/meta_memcache_socket.pyi b/meta_memcache_socket.pyi
index f5f962d..d66b9d0 100644
--- a/meta_memcache_socket.pyi
+++ b/meta_memcache_socket.pyi
@@ -367,3 +367,21 @@ class MemcacheSocket:
         :param request_flags: The flags to use for all keys
         """
         ...
+
+    # Raw command passthrough
+    def raw_cmd(
+        self,
+        cmd: bytes,
+        multi_line: bool = False,
+    ) -> bytes:
+        """
+        Send a raw command and return the raw response bytes.
+
+        Appends \\r\\n to the command if not already present.
+        If multi_line is False, reads until \\r\\n and returns the line.
+        If multi_line is True, reads until END\\r\\n and returns everything before it.
+
+        :param cmd: The raw command bytes to send
+        :param multi_line: Whether to expect a multi-line response (terminated by END\\r\\n)
+        """
+        ...
diff --git a/src/memcache_socket.rs b/src/memcache_socket.rs
index f382b33..a1961b0 100644
--- a/src/memcache_socket.rs
+++ b/src/memcache_socket.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use std::os::fd::RawFd;
 
 use log::warn;
-
+use memchr::memmem;
 use pyo3::BoundObject;
 use pyo3::exceptions::{PyConnectionError, PyTimeoutError, PyValueError};
 use pyo3::prelude::*;
@@ -875,4 +875,82 @@ impl MemcacheSocket {
         }
         Ok(results)
     }
+
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+    // Raw command passthrough
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    /// Send a raw command and return the raw response bytes.
+    ///
+    /// Appends \r\n to the command if not already present.
+    /// If `multi_line` is false, reads until \r\n and returns the line.
+    /// If `multi_line` is true, reads until END\r\n and returns everything before it.
+    /// Uses a separate buffer to avoid disturbing the main I/O state.
+    /// Releases the GIL during socket I/O.
+    #[pyo3(signature = (cmd, multi_line=false))]
+    pub fn raw_cmd<'py>(
+        &self,
+        py: Python<'py>,
+        cmd: &[u8],
+        multi_line: bool,
+    ) -> PyResult<Bound<'py, PyBytes>> {
+        // Build command with \r\n if needed
+        let cmd_bytes = if cmd.ends_with(b"\r\n") {
+            cmd.to_vec()
+        } else {
+            let mut buf = Vec::with_capacity(cmd.len() + 2);
+            buf.extend_from_slice(cmd);
+            buf.extend_from_slice(b"\r\n");
+            buf
+        };
+
+        let fd = self.io.fd;
+        let timeout_ms = self.io.timeout_ms;
+
+        let response = py
+            .detach(|| {
+                send_all(fd, &cmd_bytes, timeout_ms)?;
+                raw_recv(fd, timeout_ms, multi_line)
+            })
+            .map_err(|e| socket_err_io("Error in raw_cmd", e))?;
+
+        Ok(PyBytes::new(py, &response))
+    }
+}
+
+/// Receive a raw response into a standalone buffer (not the main SocketIO buffer).
+/// For single-line: read until \r\n, return everything before it.
+/// For multi-line: read until END\r\n, return everything before it.
+fn raw_recv(
+    fd: RawFd,
+    timeout_ms: libc::c_int,
+    multi_line: bool,
+) -> Result<Vec<u8>, std::io::Error> {
+    let mut buf = Vec::with_capacity(1024);
+    let mut tmp = [0u8; 4096];
+
+    loop {
+        let n = recv_into(fd, &mut tmp, timeout_ms)?;
+        if n == 0 {
+            return Err(std::io::Error::new(
+                std::io::ErrorKind::ConnectionAborted,
+                "Connection closed during raw_recv",
+            ));
+        }
+        buf.extend_from_slice(&tmp[..n]);
+
+        if multi_line {
+            // Look for END\r\n — can appear at start of a line
+            if let Some(pos) = memmem::find(&buf, b"END\r\n") {
+                buf.truncate(pos);
+                return Ok(buf);
+            }
+        } else {
+            // Look for first \r\n
+            if let Some(pos) = memmem::find(&buf, b"\r\n") {
+                buf.truncate(pos);
+                return Ok(buf);
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/test_memcache_socket.py b/tests/test_memcache_socket.py
index 879a7ba..4bae550 100644
--- a/tests/test_memcache_socket.py
+++ b/tests/test_memcache_socket.py
@@ -1237,6 +1237,87 @@ def test_unicode_str_key_meta_set(self, socket_pair):
         assert data == b"ms " + expected_b64 + b" 3 b\r\nval\r\n"
 
 
+# --- raw_cmd ---
+
+
+class TestRawCmd:
+    def test_single_line_version(self, socket_pair):
+        """Typical single-line command like 'version'."""
+        a, b = socket_pair
+        ms = MemcacheSocket(a)
+        b.sendall(b"VERSION 1.6.22\r\n")
+        result = ms.raw_cmd(b"version")
+        assert result == b"VERSION 1.6.22"
+        # Verify \r\n was appended
+        data = b.recv(1024)
+        assert data == b"version\r\n"
+
+    def test_single_line_already_has_endl(self, socket_pair):
+        """Command already ending with \\r\\n should not get doubled."""
+        a, b = socket_pair
+        ms = MemcacheSocket(a)
+        b.sendall(b"OK\r\n")
+        result = ms.raw_cmd(b"flush_all\r\n")
+        assert result == b"OK"
+        data = b.recv(1024)
+        assert data == b"flush_all\r\n"
+
+    def test_multi_line_stats(self, socket_pair):
+        """Multi-line response like 'stats'."""
+        a, b = socket_pair
+        ms = MemcacheSocket(a)
+        b.sendall(
+            b"STAT pid 12345\r\n"
+            b"STAT uptime 1000\r\n"
+            b"STAT version 1.6.22\r\n"
+            b"END\r\n"
+        )
+        result = ms.raw_cmd(b"stats", multi_line=True)
+        assert result == (
+            b"STAT pid 12345\r\n"
+            b"STAT uptime 1000\r\n"
+            b"STAT version 1.6.22\r\n"
+        )
+
+    def test_multi_line_empty(self, socket_pair):
+        """Multi-line response with no content before END."""
+        a, b = socket_pair
+        ms = MemcacheSocket(a)
+        b.sendall(b"END\r\n")
+        result = ms.raw_cmd(b"stats slabs", multi_line=True)
+        assert result == b""
+
+    def test_single_line_empty_response(self, socket_pair):
+        """Server returns just \\r\\n."""
+        a, b = socket_pair
+        ms = MemcacheSocket(a)
+        b.sendall(b"\r\n")
+        result = ms.raw_cmd(b"test")
+        assert result == b""
+
+    def test_nonblocking_socket(self, socket_pair):
+        a, b = socket_pair
+        a.settimeout(5.0)
+        ms = MemcacheSocket(a)
+        b.sendall(b"VERSION 1.6.22\r\n")
+        result = ms.raw_cmd(b"version")
+        assert result == b"VERSION 1.6.22"
+
+    def test_does_not_affect_main_buffer(self, socket_pair):
+        """raw_cmd should not disturb main I/O state for subsequent meta commands."""
+        a, b = socket_pair
+        ms = MemcacheSocket(a)
+        # raw command
+        b.sendall(b"VERSION 1.6.22\r\n")
+        ms.raw_cmd(b"version")
+        # meta get should still work
+        b.sendall(b"VA 3 c1\r\nfoo\r\n")
+        resp = ms.meta_get(b"mykey", RequestFlags(return_cas_token=True))
+        assert isinstance(resp, Value)
+        assert resp.value == b"foo"
+        assert resp.flags.cas_token == 1
+
+
 class TestVersionConstants:
     def test_constants_values(self):
         assert SERVER_VERSION_AWS_1_6_6 == 1