diff --git a/urjtag/include/jtag.h b/urjtag/include/jtag.h
index 050119ae..cba41e1d 100644
--- a/urjtag/include/jtag.h
+++ b/urjtag/include/jtag.h
@@ -43,6 +43,10 @@ extern urj_bus_t *urj_bus;
 extern int urj_big_endian;
 extern int urj_debug_mode;
 
+/** Register the application name with cmd_jtag.
+ * @param argv0 is remembered as a pointer, it is not strdup()'ed.
+ */
+void urj_cmd_jtag_set_argv0(const char *argv0);
 const char *urj_cmd_jtag_get_data_dir (void);
 
 int urj_cmd_jtag_parse_file (urj_chain_t *chain, const char *filename);
diff --git a/urjtag/src/cmd/cmd_jtag_data_dir.c b/urjtag/src/cmd/cmd_jtag_data_dir.c
index 6bbaad9f..332eb702 100644
--- a/urjtag/src/cmd/cmd_jtag_data_dir.c
+++ b/urjtag/src/cmd/cmd_jtag_data_dir.c
@@ -8,6 +8,14 @@
 #include <config.h>
 #include "jtag.h"
 
+static const char *jtag_argv0;
+
+void
+urj_cmd_jtag_set_argv0(const char *argv0)
+{
+    jtag_argv0 = argv0;
+}
+
 #ifdef JTAG_RELOCATABLE
 
 #include <stdlib.h>
@@ -17,7 +25,6 @@ extern char *make_relative_prefix (const char *progname,
                                    const char *bin_prefix,
                                    const char *prefix);
 
-extern const char *jtag_argv0;
 static char *jtag_data_dir = NULL;
 
 const char *
diff --git a/urjtag/src/jtag.c b/urjtag/src/jtag.c
index 55f2d287..ccf5cc90 100644
--- a/urjtag/src/jtag.c
+++ b/urjtag/src/jtag.c
@@ -322,7 +322,6 @@ cleanup (urj_chain_t *chain)
     chain = NULL;
 }
 
-const char *jtag_argv0;
 int
 main (int argc, char *const argv[])
 {
@@ -335,7 +334,7 @@ main (int argc, char *const argv[])
     int quiet = 0;
     urj_chain_t *chain = NULL;
 
-    jtag_argv0 = argv[0];
+    urj_cmd_jtag_set_argv0(argv[0]);
 
     if (geteuid () == 0 && getuid () != 0)
     {