diff --git a/ape/ape-m1.c b/ape/ape-m1.c
index 4eadb2eaa..9912adefc 100644
--- a/ape/ape-m1.c
+++ b/ape/ape-m1.c
@@ -821,7 +821,7 @@ static const char *TryElf(struct ApeLoader *M, union ElfEhdrBuf *ebuf,
   if (e->e_machine != EM_AARCH64) {
     return "couldn't find ELF header with ARM64 machine type";
   }
-  if (!(e->e_flags & EF_APE_MODERN)) {
+  if (!(e->e_flags & EF_APE_MODERN) && sp[0]) {
     /* change argv[0] to resolved path for older binaries */
     ((char **)(sp + 1))[0] = exe;
   }
diff --git a/ape/loader.c b/ape/loader.c
index 26ce3f94e..912db4ca2 100644
--- a/ape/loader.c
+++ b/ape/loader.c
@@ -835,7 +835,7 @@ static const char *TryElf(struct ApeLoader *M, union ElfEhdrBuf *ebuf,
     return "couldn't find ELF header with x86-64 machine type";
   }
 #endif
-  if (!(e->e_flags & EF_APE_MODERN)) {
+  if (!(e->e_flags & EF_APE_MODERN) && sp[0]) {
     /* change argv[0] to resolved path for older binaries */
     ((char **)(sp + 1))[0] = exe;
   }