diff --git a/pkgs/applications/audio/cardinal/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/audio/cardinal/default.nix
index 358c1f0e7900..b8de34d6eadd 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/audio/cardinal/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/audio/cardinal/default.nix
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     homepage = "https://github.com/DISTRHO/cardinal";
     license = lib.licenses.gpl3;
     maintainers = [ lib.maintainers.magnetophon ];
+    mainProgram = "Cardinal";
     platforms = lib.platforms.all;
     # never built on aarch64-darwin, x86_64-darwin since first introduction in nixpkgs
     broken = stdenv.isDarwin;