diff --git a/gst/gstplugin.c b/gst/gstplugin.c
index 12f874375b..6970fdf6ef 100644
--- a/gst/gstplugin.c
+++ b/gst/gstplugin.c
@@ -686,7 +686,7 @@ extract_symname (const char *filename)
 {
   gchar *bname, *name, *symname;
   const gchar *dot;
-  gsize prefix_len = 0, len;
+  gsize prefix_len, len;
   int i;
 
   bname = g_path_get_basename (filename);
@@ -696,11 +696,13 @@ extract_symname (const char *filename)
   }
 
   if (g_str_has_prefix (bname, "libgst"))
-    prefix_len += 6;
+    prefix_len = 6;
   else if (g_str_has_prefix (bname, "lib"))
-    prefix_len += 3;
-  else if (g_str_has_prefix(bname, "gst"))
-    prefix_len += 3;
+    prefix_len = 3;
+  else if (g_str_has_prefix (bname, "gst"))
+    prefix_len = 3;
+  else
+    prefix_len = 0;             /* use whole name (minus suffix) as plugin name */
 
   dot = g_utf8_strchr (bname, -1, '.');
   if (dot)