diff --git a/packages/Makefile.buildlayout b/packages/Makefile.buildlayout
index c5031729981b54604f2088ba17ba316dd6dbbe03..2aa13174c205f535d511cf9c3e0d56153f30d7e6 100644
--- a/packages/Makefile.buildlayout
+++ b/packages/Makefile.buildlayout
@@ -217,7 +217,8 @@ PD_VERSION := $(PD_L2ORK_VERSION)-$(PD_TEST_VERSION)
 
 VERSION_DATE := $(shell date +%Y%m%d)
 
-PACKAGE_NAME = Pd-l2ork-$(PD_VERSION)-`uname -m`
+APPLICATION_NAME = Pd-l2ork
+PACKAGE_NAME = $(APPLICATION_NAME)-$(PD_VERSION)-`uname -m`
 
 
 #==============================================================================#
diff --git a/packages/darwin_app/Makefile b/packages/darwin_app/Makefile
index 3852c0d920d18dc3748d4a5a8a1fe9feecebb410..ee3e1323cf30f88367c5eff1ddd6df0a76b13e5d 100644
--- a/packages/darwin_app/Makefile
+++ b/packages/darwin_app/Makefile
@@ -5,7 +5,10 @@ export MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET = 10.4
 
 CWD := $(shell pwd)
 BUILD_BASE = $(CWD)/build
-PD_APP_NAME = $(PACKAGE_NAME)
+# some folks may prefer to have the version and architecture in the app name
+#PD_APP_NAME = $(PACKAGE_NAME)
+# but we want just the real name of the application
+PD_APP_NAME = $(APPLICATION_NAME)
 PD_SHORT_NAME = "Purr-Data"
 PD_APP_CONTENTS = $(BUILD_BASE)/$(PD_APP_NAME).app/Contents
 DESTDIR = $(PD_APP_CONTENTS)/Resources/app.nw