diff --git a/arch-nspawn.in b/arch-nspawn.in
index 8ef39edb38669178d31622ec2d8e9a7ed800aa3f..441b5027533331682ec687f220aaa59e1351cc93 100644
--- a/arch-nspawn.in
+++ b/arch-nspawn.in
@@ -98,8 +98,11 @@ copy_hostconf
 
 eval $(grep '^CARCH=' "$working_dir/etc/makepkg.conf")
 
+machine_name="${working_dir//\//-}"
+machine_name="${machine_name#-}"
+
 exec ${CARCH:+setarch "$CARCH"} systemd-nspawn 2>/dev/null \
 	-D "$working_dir" \
-	--machine "${working_dir//\//-}" \
+	--machine "$machine_name" \
 	"${mount_args[@]}" \
 	"$@"