diff --git a/doc/org/ltlcross.org b/doc/org/ltlcross.org
index 3b6c59392..cdacb485b 100644
--- a/doc/org/ltlcross.org
+++ b/doc/org/ltlcross.org
@@ -180,6 +180,12 @@ the following words, then the string on the right is appended.
   ltl3dra      -f %f>%O
   modella      %L %O
   spin         -f %s>%O
+
+Any {name} and directory component is skipped for the purpose of
+matching those prefixes.  So for instance
+  '{DRA} ~/mytools/ltl2dstar-0.5.2'
+will changed into
+  '{DRA} ~/mytools/ltl2dstar-0.5.2 --output-format=hoa %L %O'
 #+end_example
 
 What this implies is that running =ltlcross ltl2ba ltl3ba ...= is
diff --git a/src/bin/common_trans.cc b/src/bin/common_trans.cc
index 6ce8a924d..281c3c5b9 100644
--- a/src/bin/common_trans.cc
+++ b/src/bin/common_trans.cc
@@ -58,6 +58,12 @@ void show_shorthands()
     std::cout << "  "
 	      << std::left << std::setw(12) << s.prefix
 	      << s.suffix << '\n';
+  std::cout
+    << ("\nAny {name} and directory component is skipped for the purpose of\n"
+	"matching those prefixes.  So for instance\n"
+	"  '{DRA} ~/mytools/ltl2dstar-0.5.2'\n"
+	"will changed into\n"
+	"  '{DRA} ~/mytools/ltl2dstar-0.5.2 --output-format=hoa %L %O'\n");
 }
 
 
@@ -84,15 +90,28 @@ translator_spec::translator_spec(const char* spec)
 	      }
 	}
     }
-  // If we recognize a shorthand, add the suffixes.
+  // If there is no % in the string, look for a known
+  // command from our shorthand list.  If we find it,
+  // add the suffix.
   bool allocated = false;
   if (!strchr(cmd, '%'))
     {
+      // Skip any leading directory name.
+      auto basename = cmd;
+      auto pos = cmd;
+      while (*pos)
+	{
+	  if (*pos == '/')
+	    basename = pos + 1;
+	  else if (*pos == ' ')
+	    break;
+	  ++pos;
+	}
+      // Match a shorthand.
       for (auto& p: shorthands)
 	{
 	  int n = strlen(p.prefix);
-	  if (strncmp(cmd, p.prefix, n) == 0 &&
-	      (cmd[n] == 0 || cmd[n] == ' '))
+	  if (strncmp(basename, p.prefix, n) == 0)
 	    {
 	      int m = strlen(p.suffix);
 	      int q = strlen(cmd);
diff --git a/src/tests/ltldo.test b/src/tests/ltldo.test
index b8fadba2d..fb050c08a 100755
--- a/src/tests/ltldo.test
+++ b/src/tests/ltldo.test
@@ -110,3 +110,6 @@ $ltldo ': %s; true>%O' -f GFa 2>stderr && exit 1
 test $? = 2
 grep 'error: command ".*" produced an empty output.' stderr
 grep 'ltldo: aborting' stderr
+
+$ltldo '{name} foo/bar/ltl2baextended' -f GFa 2>stderr && exit 1
+grep 'error:.*foo/bar/ltl2baextended -f .*>.*' stderr