diff --git a/ide/lazarusmanager.pas b/ide/lazarusmanager.pas
index b081bcdd77..919b232779 100644
--- a/ide/lazarusmanager.pas
+++ b/ide/lazarusmanager.pas
@@ -136,10 +136,10 @@ type
     FShowSplashOption: boolean;
     function RenameLazarusExecutable(const Directory: string): TModalResult;
     procedure LazarusProcessStart(Sender: TObject);
-    procedure WaitForLazarus;
   public
     destructor Destroy; override;
     procedure Initialize;
+    procedure WaitForLazarus;
     procedure Run;
     procedure ShowSplash;
     property ShowSplashOption: boolean read FShowSplashOption write FShowSplashOption;
@@ -274,6 +274,16 @@ begin
 end;
 
 procedure TLazarusManager.Run;
+
+  procedure AddExpandedParam(Params: TStringListUTF8; Param: string);
+  begin
+    // skip startlazarus params
+    if LeftStr(Param,length(StartLazarusPidOpt))=StartLazarusPidOpt then
+      exit;
+    // expand filenames and append
+    Params.Add(ExpandParamFile(Param));
+  end;
+
 var
   Restart: boolean;
   DefaultDir: String;
@@ -286,7 +296,6 @@ var
   Params: TStringListUTF8;
   i: Integer;
 begin
-  WaitForLazarus;
   try
     StartPath:=ExpandFileNameUTF8(ParamStrUTF8(0));
     if FileIsSymlink(StartPath) then
@@ -402,7 +411,7 @@ begin
         Params.Add(NoSplashScreenOptLong);
         Params.Add(StartedByStartLazarusOpt);
         for i:=0 to FCmdLineParams.Count-1 do
-          Params.Add(ExpandParamFile(FCmdLineParams[i]));
+          AddExpandedParam(Params,FCmdLineParams[i]);
         FLazarusProcess.Process.Parameters.AddStrings(Params);
       finally
         Params.Free;
diff --git a/ide/startlazarus.lpi b/ide/startlazarus.lpi
index 40143c152c..c85a4bd353 100644
--- a/ide/startlazarus.lpi
+++ b/ide/startlazarus.lpi
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
       <Unit0>
         <Filename Value="startlazarus.lpr"/>
         <IsPartOfProject Value="True"/>
+        <UnitName Value="StartLazarus"/>
       </Unit0>
       <Unit1>
         <Filename Value="lazarusmanager.pas"/>
diff --git a/ide/startlazarus.lpr b/ide/startlazarus.lpr
index 773a747eb9..b3e93286d4 100644
--- a/ide/startlazarus.lpr
+++ b/ide/startlazarus.lpr
@@ -45,12 +45,22 @@ var
 begin
   redirect_stderr.DoShowWindow := False;
   Application.Initialize;
-  LazIDEInstances.PerformCheck;
-  if not LazIDEInstances.StartIDE then
-    Exit;
   ALazarusManager := TLazarusManager.Create(nil);
-  ALazarusManager.Initialize;
-  ALazarusManager.Run;
-  FreeAndNil(ALazarusManager);
+  try
+    // parse params
+    ALazarusManager.Initialize;
+    // if started by lazarus, wait for it to exit
+    ALazarusManager.WaitForLazarus;
+
+    // if there is a lazarus instance accepting files, pass files to that
+    LazIDEInstances.PerformCheck;
+    if not LazIDEInstances.StartIDE then
+      Exit;
+
+    // start lazarus
+    ALazarusManager.Run;
+  finally
+    FreeAndNil(ALazarusManager);
+  end;
 end.