diff --git a/source/backend/engine/CarlaEngine.cpp b/source/backend/engine/CarlaEngine.cpp
index ee0c28842..cc5f979c3 100644
--- a/source/backend/engine/CarlaEngine.cpp
+++ b/source/backend/engine/CarlaEngine.cpp
@@ -414,7 +414,7 @@ bool CarlaEngine::addPlugin(const BinaryType btype, const PluginType ptype,
     bool preferBridges = pData->options.preferPluginBridges;
 
 # ifdef CARLA_OS_LINUX
-    if (! preferBridges)
+    if (! preferBridges && label != nullptr)
     {
         if (ptype == PLUGIN_LV2)
         {
diff --git a/source/carla_app.py b/source/carla_app.py
index cee664337..aed44aae1 100644
--- a/source/carla_app.py
+++ b/source/carla_app.py
@@ -237,11 +237,6 @@ class CarlaApplication(object):
 
         print("Using \"%s\" theme" % self.fApp.style().objectName())
 
-    def arguments(self):
-        # FIXME - PyQt mishandles unicode characters, we'll use direct sys.argv for now
-        return sys.argv
-        return self.fApp.arguments()
-
     def exec_(self):
         return self.fApp.exec_()
 
diff --git a/source/carla_shared.py b/source/carla_shared.py
index ea05cc8e8..25a7a2a66 100644
--- a/source/carla_shared.py
+++ b/source/carla_shared.py
@@ -599,7 +599,11 @@ def handleInitialCommandLineArguments(file):
 # Get initial project file (as passed in the command-line parameters)
 
 def getInitialProjectFile(app, skipExistCheck = False):
-    for arg in app.arguments()[1:]:
+    # FIXME - PyQt mishandles unicode characters, we'll use direct sys.argv for now
+    # see https://riverbankcomputing.com/pipermail/pyqt/2015-January/035395.html
+    #args = app.arguments()[1:]
+    args = sys.argv[1:]
+    for arg in args:
         if arg.startswith("--with-appname=") or arg.startswith("--with-libprefix=") or arg == "--gdb":
             continue
         if arg in ("-n", "--n", "-no-gui", "--no-gui", "-nogui", "--nogui"):