diff --git a/jtag/ChangeLog b/jtag/ChangeLog
index 535f803d..c1db33b8 100644
--- a/jtag/ChangeLog
+++ b/jtag/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2008-09-04  Arnim Laeuger  <arniml@users.sourceforge.net>
+
+   * configure.ac, src/tap/usbconn/libftd2xx.c,
+     src/tap/usbconn/libftdi.c: forward and use the desc= paramter
+     [ 2085244 ] Wrong device chosen by ftd2xx driver
+
 2008-09-03  Arnim Laeuger  <arniml@users.sourceforge.net>
 
    * src/tap/usbconn/libftd2xx.c,  src/tap/usbconn/libftdi.c:
diff --git a/jtag/configure.ac b/jtag/configure.ac
index c4d028ce..d8ee3e39 100644
--- a/jtag/configure.ac
+++ b/jtag/configure.ac
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ AC_ARG_WITH([ftd2xx],
 
 FTD2XXLIB=
 AS_IF([test "x$with_ftd2xx" = xyes -o "x$with_ftd2xx" = xcheck], [
-  AC_CHECK_LIB([ftd2xx], [FT_Open], [
+  AC_CHECK_LIB([ftd2xx], [FT_OpenEx], [
     HAVELIBFTD2XX=yes
     LIBS="-lftd2xx $LIBS"
   ],[
diff --git a/jtag/src/tap/usbconn/libftd2xx.c b/jtag/src/tap/usbconn/libftd2xx.c
index 10c2cf8e..ba15a3f7 100644
--- a/jtag/src/tap/usbconn/libftd2xx.c
+++ b/jtag/src/tap/usbconn/libftd2xx.c
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ usbconn_ftd2xx_connect( const char **param, int paramc, usbconn_cable_t *templat
   p->fc     = NULL;
   p->pid    = template->pid;
   p->vid    = template->vid;
-  p->serial = NULL;
+  p->serial = template->desc ? strdup( template->desc ) : NULL;
 
   c->params   = p;
   c->driver   = &usbconn_ftd2xx_driver;
@@ -328,7 +328,23 @@ usbconn_ftd2xx_common_open( usbconn_t *conn )
     fprintf( stderr, "Warning: couldn't add %4.4x:%4.4x", p->vid, p->pid );
 #endif
 
-  if ((status = FT_Open( 0, &(p->fc) )) != FT_OK)
+  /* try various methods to open a FTDI device */
+  if (p->serial)
+  {
+    /* serial number/description is specified */
+
+    /* first try to match against the serial string */
+    status = FT_OpenEx( p->serial, FT_OPEN_BY_SERIAL_NUMBER, &(p->fc) );
+
+    if (status != FT_OK)
+      /* then try to match against the description string */
+      status = FT_OpenEx( p->serial, FT_OPEN_BY_DESCRIPTION, &(p->fc) );
+  }
+  else
+    /* give it a plain try */
+    status = FT_Open( 0, &(p->fc) );
+
+  if (status != FT_OK)
   {
     printf( "Unable to open FTDI device.\n" );
     /* mark ftd2xx layer as not initialized */
diff --git a/jtag/src/tap/usbconn/libftdi.c b/jtag/src/tap/usbconn/libftdi.c
index b19ac729..64b1a2b5 100644
--- a/jtag/src/tap/usbconn/libftdi.c
+++ b/jtag/src/tap/usbconn/libftdi.c
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ usbconn_ftdi_connect( const char **param, int paramc, usbconn_cable_t *template
   p->fc     = fc;
   p->pid    = template->pid;
   p->vid    = template->vid;
-  p->serial = NULL;
+  p->serial = template->desc ? strdup( template->desc ) : NULL;
 
   c->params = p;
   c->driver = &usbconn_ftdi_driver;
@@ -293,8 +293,16 @@ usbconn_ftdi_common_open( usbconn_t *conn )
 {
   ftdi_param_t *p = conn->params;
   struct ftdi_context *fc = p->fc;
+  int status;
 
-  if (ftdi_usb_open_desc( fc, p->vid, p->pid, NULL, p->serial ) < 0)
+  /* use command line string for desc= as serial number and try to
+     open a matching device */
+  status = ftdi_usb_open_desc( fc, p->vid, p->pid, NULL, p->serial );
+  if (status < 0)
+    /* try again with matching the string against the description */
+    status = ftdi_usb_open_desc( fc, p->vid, p->pid, p->serial, NULL );
+
+  if (status < 0)
   {
     puts( ftdi_get_error_string( fc ) );
     ftdi_deinit( fc );