Index: src/main.c
--- src/main.c.orig
+++ src/main.c
@@ -188,7 +188,10 @@ init_lua:
     lua_pushstring(L, exename);
   } else {
     // get_exe_filename failed
-    lua_pushstring(L, argv[0]);
+    if (strchr(argv[0], '/') != NULL)
+      lua_pushstring(L, argv[0]);
+    else
+      lua_pushstring(L, "${PREFIX}/bin/lite-xl");
   }
   lua_setglobal(L, "EXEFILE");
 
