What is the reason that not embossed text isn't editable anymore?

When using layout.prop(something,"string_property",emboss=False), the text is not editable anymore. Instead it works basically the same way a label does.
I’m not sure if this is the way it is supposed to work, but because if I’m not mistaking it’s been that way since 2.7 I guess it’s a feature.

What I would expect to happen is that the outline around the textfield disappears, but the rest still works the same. What happens is, that it does disappear, but the text also becomes impossible to edit.
At least for me it would be helpful to have the string property ui without the border as it allows for some cleaner ui in the case that I need it.

So the question is, is this a feature and if so why is it this way, or is it just a bug?