diff --git a/mqttwarn/services/desktopnotify.py b/mqttwarn/services/desktopnotify.py
index 72c0798e..fc026f2d 100644
--- a/mqttwarn/services/desktopnotify.py
+++ b/mqttwarn/services/desktopnotify.py
@@ -8,20 +8,30 @@
 
 import json
 import typing as t
+import asyncio
 
 from desktop_notifier import DesktopNotifier, Urgency, Button, ReplyField
 
 from mqttwarn.model import Service, ProcessorItem, Struct
 
+
 notify = DesktopNotifier()
 
+
 def is_json(msg: t.Union[str, bytes]) -> bool:
    try:
      json.loads(msg)
    except ValueError as e:
      return False
+   except TypeError as e:
+     return False
    return True
 
+
+async def send_notification(message, title, sound=True):
+   await notify.send(message=message, title=title, sound=sound)
+
+
 def plugin(srv: Service, item: ProcessorItem):
     # Log
     srv.logging.debug("*** MODULE=%s: service=%s, target=%s", __file__, item.service, item.target)
@@ -30,27 +40,36 @@ def plugin(srv: Service, item: ProcessorItem):
     config = item.config
 
     # Play Sound ?
-    playSound = True
+    playSound = False
     if isinstance(config, dict):
-       playSound = config.get('sound', True)
+       playSound = config.get('sound', False)
 
     # Get Message
     message = item.message
-    if message and is_json(message):
-       data = json.loads(message)
-    else:
+    if message is None:
+        raise ValueError("Message is required")
+    if is_json(message):
+       parsed = json.loads(message)
+       data = parsed if isinstance(parsed, dict) else {
+         "title": item.get("title", item.topic),
+         "message": parsed,
+       }
+    else:       
+       try:
+          msg = t.cast(t.Dict, message).get('message')
+       except:
+          msg = str(message)
        data = {
          "title"  : item.get('title', item.topic),
-         "message": message
+         "message": msg
        }
 
     srv.logging.debug("Sending desktop notification")
     message = str(data.get('message', ''))
     title = str(data.get('title', ''))
     try:
-        # Synchronous Notification (allows no callbacks in OSX)
-        # Asynchronous would require asyncio and require some changes to the plugin handler
-        notify.send_sync(message=message, title=title, sound=playSound)
+        # TODO: Fix issue where this keeps running until the notification is closed.
+        asyncio.run(send_notification(message=message, title=title, sound=playSound))
 
     except Exception as e:
         srv.logging.warning("Invoking desktop notifier failed: %s" % e)
diff --git a/tests/services/test_desktopnotify.py b/tests/services/test_desktopnotify.py
index 2a55338a..67c82548 100644
--- a/tests/services/test_desktopnotify.py
+++ b/tests/services/test_desktopnotify.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # (c) 2022 The mqttwarn developers
 import json
+import sys
+from unittest import mock
 from unittest.mock import Mock, call
 
 import pytest
@@ -12,7 +14,9 @@
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def desktop_notifier_mock(mocker):
-    notifier = mocker.patch("desktop_notifier.DesktopNotifier", create=True)
+    if sys.version_info < (3, 8):
+        raise pytest.skip(reason="mock.AsyncMock not available on Python 3.7 and earlier")
+    notifier = mocker.patch("desktop_notifier.DesktopNotifier.send", new_callable=mock.AsyncMock, return_value=True)
     mocker.patch("desktop_notifier.Urgency", create=True)
     mocker.patch("desktop_notifier.Button", create=True)
     mocker.patch("desktop_notifier.ReplyField", create=True)
@@ -32,10 +36,9 @@ def test_desktopnotify_vanilla_success(desktop_notifier_mock, srv, caplog):
 
     outcome = module.plugin(srv, item)
 
-    assert desktop_notifier_mock.mock_calls == [
-        call(),
-        call().send_sync(message="⚽ Notification message ⚽", title="⚽ Notification title ⚽", sound=True),
-    ]
+    desktop_notifier_mock.assert_awaited_once_with(
+        message="⚽ Notification message ⚽", title="⚽ Notification title ⚽", sound=False
+    )
 
     assert outcome is True
     assert "Sending desktop notification" in caplog.messages
@@ -52,13 +55,13 @@ def test_desktopnotify_vanilla_failure(desktop_notifier_mock, mocker, srv: Servi
     # Plugin needs a real `Struct`.
     item = Struct(**processor_item.asdict())
 
-    # Make the `send_sync` method fail.
+    # Make the `send` method fail.
     notifier_mock: Mock = mocker.patch.object(
         module,
         "notify",
         Mock(
             **{  # ty: ignore[invalid-argument-type, unused-ignore-comment, unused-ignore-comment]
-                "send_sync.side_effect": Exception("Something failed")
+                "send.side_effect": Exception("Something failed")
             }
         ),
     )
@@ -66,7 +69,7 @@ def test_desktopnotify_vanilla_failure(desktop_notifier_mock, mocker, srv: Servi
     outcome = module.plugin(srv, item)
 
     assert notifier_mock.mock_calls == [
-        call.send_sync(message="⚽ Notification message ⚽", title="⚽ Notification title ⚽", sound=True),
+        call.send(message="⚽ Notification message ⚽", title="⚽ Notification title ⚽", sound=False),
     ]
 
     assert outcome is False
@@ -93,22 +96,23 @@ def test_desktopnotify_json_success(desktop_notifier_mock, srv, caplog):
 
     outcome = module.plugin(srv, item)
 
-    assert desktop_notifier_mock.mock_calls == [
-        call(),
-        call().send_sync(message="⚽ Notification message ⚽", title="⚽ Notification title ⚽", sound=True),
-    ]
+    desktop_notifier_mock.assert_awaited_once_with(
+        message="⚽ Notification message ⚽",
+        title="⚽ Notification title ⚽",
+        sound=False,
+    )
 
     assert outcome is True
     assert "Sending desktop notification" in caplog.messages
 
 
-def test_desktopnotify_no_sound_success(desktop_notifier_mock, srv, caplog):
+def test_desktopnotify_with_sound_success(desktop_notifier_mock, srv, caplog):
     module = load_module_by_name("mqttwarn.services.desktopnotify")
 
     item = Item(
         title="⚽ Notification title ⚽",
         message="⚽ Notification message ⚽",
-        config={"sound": False},
+        config={"sound": True},
     )
 
     # Plugin needs a real `Struct`.
@@ -116,10 +120,9 @@ def test_desktopnotify_no_sound_success(desktop_notifier_mock, srv, caplog):
 
     outcome = module.plugin(srv, item)
 
-    assert desktop_notifier_mock.mock_calls == [
-        call(),
-        call().send_sync(message="⚽ Notification message ⚽", title="⚽ Notification title ⚽", sound=False),
-    ]
+    desktop_notifier_mock.assert_awaited_once_with(
+        message="⚽ Notification message ⚽", title="⚽ Notification title ⚽", sound=True
+    )
 
     assert outcome is True
     assert "Sending desktop notification" in caplog.messages