diff --git a/tools/widl/widl.c b/tools/widl/widl.c
index 992eef73e82..b40745a49f8 100644
--- a/tools/widl/widl.c
+++ b/tools/widl/widl.c
@@ -211,6 +211,31 @@ static const struct option long_options[] = {
     { NULL, 0, NULL, 0 }
 };
 
+static const struct
+{
+    const char     *name;
+    enum target_cpu cpu;
+} cpu_names[] =
+{
+    { "i386",           CPU_x86 },
+    { "i486",           CPU_x86 },
+    { "i586",           CPU_x86 },
+    { "i686",           CPU_x86 },
+    { "i786",           CPU_x86 },
+    { "amd64",          CPU_x86_64 },
+    { "x86_64",         CPU_x86_64 },
+    { "powerpc",        CPU_POWERPC },
+    { "powerpc64",      CPU_POWERPC64 },
+    { "powerpc64le",    CPU_POWERPC64 },
+    { "arm",            CPU_ARM },
+    { "armv5",          CPU_ARM },
+    { "armv6",          CPU_ARM },
+    { "armv7",          CPU_ARM },
+    { "armv7a",         CPU_ARM },
+    { "arm64",          CPU_ARM64 },
+    { "aarch64",        CPU_ARM64 },
+};
+
 static void rm_tempfile(void);
 
 enum stub_mode get_stub_mode(void)
@@ -274,51 +299,54 @@ static void add_widl_version_define(void)
     wpp_add_cmdline_define(version_str);
 }
 
+static void set_cpu( const char *cpu, int error_out )
+{
+    unsigned int i;
+    for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE( cpu_names ); i++)
+    {
+        if (!strcmp( cpu_names[i].name, cpu ))
+        {
+            target_cpu = cpu_names[i].cpu;
+            return;
+        }
+    }
+    if (error_out)
+        error( "Unrecognized CPU '%s'\n", cpu );
+}
+
+/* Set the target platform based on a potential prefix of the executable name.
+ * If not found, or not matching a known CPU name, just proceed silently. */
+static void init_argv0_target( const char *argv0 )
+{
+    char *p, *name;
+
+    if ((p = strrchr(argv0, '/')) != NULL)
+        argv0 = p + 1;
+    if ((p = strrchr(argv0, '\\')) != NULL)
+        argv0 = p + 1;
+
+    name = xstrdup( argv0 );
+    if (!(p = strchr(name, '-')))
+    {
+        free( name );
+        return;
+    }
+    *p = 0;
+    set_cpu( name, 0 );
+    free( name );
+}
+
 /* set the target platform */
 static void set_target( const char *target )
 {
-    static const struct
-    {
-        const char     *name;
-        enum target_cpu cpu;
-    } cpu_names[] =
-    {
-        { "i386",           CPU_x86 },
-        { "i486",           CPU_x86 },
-        { "i586",           CPU_x86 },
-        { "i686",           CPU_x86 },
-        { "i786",           CPU_x86 },
-        { "amd64",          CPU_x86_64 },
-        { "x86_64",         CPU_x86_64 },
-        { "powerpc",        CPU_POWERPC },
-        { "powerpc64",      CPU_POWERPC64 },
-        { "powerpc64le",    CPU_POWERPC64 },
-        { "arm",            CPU_ARM },
-        { "armv5",          CPU_ARM },
-        { "armv6",          CPU_ARM },
-        { "armv7",          CPU_ARM },
-        { "armv7a",         CPU_ARM },
-        { "arm64",          CPU_ARM64 },
-        { "aarch64",        CPU_ARM64 },
-    };
-
-    unsigned int i;
     char *p, *spec = xstrdup( target );
 
     /* target specification is in the form CPU-MANUFACTURER-OS or CPU-MANUFACTURER-KERNEL-OS */
 
     if (!(p = strchr( spec, '-' ))) error( "Invalid target specification '%s'\n", target );
     *p++ = 0;
-    for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE( cpu_names ); i++)
-    {
-        if (!strcmp( cpu_names[i].name, spec ))
-        {
-            target_cpu = cpu_names[i].cpu;
-            free( spec );
-            return;
-        }
-    }
-    error( "Unrecognized CPU '%s'\n", spec );
+    set_cpu( spec, 1 );
+    free( spec );
 }
 
 /* clean things up when aborting on a signal */
@@ -607,6 +635,7 @@ int main(int argc,char *argv[])
   signal( SIGHUP, exit_on_signal );
 #endif
   init_argv0_dir( argv[0] );
+  init_argv0_target( argv[0] );
 
   now = time(NULL);