diff --git a/src/nix/main.cc b/src/nix/main.cc
index d78312944..f8e93e367 100644
--- a/src/nix/main.cc
+++ b/src/nix/main.cc
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ void mainWrapped(int argc, char * * argv)
     programPath = argv[0];
     auto programName = std::string(baseNameOf(programPath));
 
-    if (argc > 0 && std::string_view(argv[0]) == "__build-remote") {
+    if (argc > 1 && std::string_view(argv[1]) == "__build-remote") {
         programName = "build-remote";
         argv++; argc--;
     }