diff --git a/src/appimage/AppRun b/src/appimage/AppRun
index 988f1ef4..d0957db5 100755
--- a/src/appimage/AppRun
+++ b/src/appimage/AppRun
@@ -1,200 +1,243 @@
 #! /usr/bin/env bash
 
 this_dir="$(readlink -f "$(dirname "$0")")"
-
-if [ "$1" = "--debug" ]; then
-    shift
-    set -x
-else
-    set -e
-fi
-
 if [ -f "${APPDIR}/GnuPG-VS-Desktop-VERSION" ]; then
     myname="GnuPG VS-Desktop "$(cat "${APPDIR}/GnuPG-VS-Desktop-VERSION")
 else
     myname="GnuPG Desktop "$(cat "${APPDIR}/GnuPG-Desktop-VERSION")
 fi
 
-if [ "$1" = "--help" -o "$1" = "--version" ]; then
-    echo "$myname"
-    if [ "$1" = "--help" ]; then
-        cat <<EOF
+opt_c=no
+opt_gui=no
+opt_keep_socket=no
+opt_debug=no
+opt_version=no
+lastoption=no
+while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+    case "$1" in
+        --)
+            lastoption=yes
+            ;;
+        -c|-i)
+            opt_c=yes
+            lastoption=yes
+            ;;
+	--gui)
+	    opt_gui=yes
+	    ;;
+	--keep-socket)
+	    opt_keep_socket=yes
+	    ;;
+	--debug)
+	    opt_debug=yes
+	    ;;
+        --version)
+            opt_version=yes
+            ;;
+	--help)
+           echo "$myname"
+           cat <<EOF
 
 Options:
-  -c          Run an interactive shell.
-  -c command  Run command with optional arguments.
-  --gui       Run the GUI with optional arguments.
-  --debug     Enable debugging of the start script.
-  --version   Print only the version
-  --help      Print this help.
+  -c            Run an interactive shell.
+  -c command    Run command with optional arguments.
+  --gui         Run the GUI with optional arguments.
+  --keep-socket Keep an existing gpg-agent socket.
+  --debug       Enable debugging of the start script.
+  --version     Print only the version
+  --help        Print this help.
 The default is to run the GUI with optional arguments.
 EOF
-    elif [ "$1" = "--version" ]; then
-        # Do some basic verification - not really secure because an
-        # attacker may change the appimage and the included keyring.
-        if ! "${APPDIR}"/usr/bin/gpgv --quiet \
-                    --keyring "${APPDIR}"/usr/share/gnupg/distsigkey.gpg \
-                    "$APPNAME".sig "$APPNAME" ; then
-
-            echo "error: this appimage is not correctly signed" >&2
-            exit 2
-        fi
+	    exit 0
+	    ;;
+	*)
+	    break
+	    ;;
+    esac
+    shift
+    if [ $lastoption = yes ]; then
+        break;
+    fi
+done
+
+if [ $opt_debug = yes ]; then
+    set -x
+else
+    set -e
+fi
+
+
+if [ $opt_version = yes ]; then
+    echo "$myname"
+    # Do some basic verification - not really secure because an
+    # attacker may change the appimage and the included keyring.
+    if ! "${APPDIR}"/usr/bin/gpgv --quiet \
+         --keyring "${APPDIR}"/usr/share/gnupg/distsigkey.gpg \
+         "$APPNAME".sig "$APPNAME" ; then
+
+        echo "error: this appimage is not correctly signed" >&2
+        exit 2
     fi
     exit 0
 fi
 
 export PATH="${APPDIR}/usr/bin:${PATH}"
 export XDG_DATA_DIRS="${APPDIR}/usr/share:${XDG_DATA_DIRS:-/usr/share}:/usr/share"
 export XDG_CONFIG_DIRS="${APPDIR}/usr/etc/xdg:${XDG_CONFIG_DIRS:-/etc/xdg}:/etc/xdg"
 export MANPATH="${APPDIR}/usr/share/man:${MANPATH:-/usr/share/man}:/usr/share/man"
 
 # Avoid problems due to caller set ld.so envvars.
 if [ -n "$LD_PRELOAD" ]; then
   _gnupg_save_LD_PRELOAD="$LD_PRELOAD"
   LD_PRELOAD=
 fi
 if [ -n "$LD_LIBRARY_PATH" ]; then
   _gnupg_save_LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
   LD_LIBRARY_PATH=
 fi
 
 # Allow GnuPG config scripts to detect the appimage install.  We can't
 # rely on APPDIR because other appimages might come with their own
 # gnupg version.  Change the value to "vsd" for a GnuPG VS-Desktop build.
 if [ -f "${APPDIR}/GnuPG-VS-Desktop-VERSION" ]; then
     _gnupg_appimage=vsd
    prestart_snippet=/etc/gnupg-vsd/apprun.pre-start.sh
 else
    _gnupg_appimage=generic
    prestart_snippet=/etc/gnupg/apprun.pre-start.sh
 fi
 export _gnupg_appimage
 
 if [ -z "$SHELL" ]; then
     SHELL="$(grep '/bash$' /etc/shells 2>/dev/null)"
     if [ -z "$SHELL" ]; then
         export SHELL=/bin/bash
     fi
 fi
 
 
 
 mycleanup () {
     if [ -n $"gnupg_SETUPINIFILE" ]; then
         rm -f $"gnupg_SETUPINIFILE"
     fi
 }
 
 gnupg_SETUPINIFILE=
 trap mycleanup 0 INT QUIT
 
 
-if [ "$1" = "-c" -o "$1" = "-i" ]; then
+if [ $opt_c = yes ]; then
     shift
     if [ ! -x "$SHELL" ]; then
         echo "error: no shell found" >&2
         exit 2
     fi
     if [ -n "$1" ]; then
         pgm=/usr/bin/env
         pgmargs="$@"
     else
         export gnupg_SETUPINIFILE SHELL
         if [ ${_gnupg_appimage} = vsd ]; then
           if [ $(id -u) -eq 0 ]; then
             dotcfg="/etc/gnupg-vsd/.config-by-appimage"
             docopy=yes
             if [ ! -d /etc/gnupg-vsd ]; then
                 echo "no global configuration - installing default" >&2
                 mkdir /etc/gnupg-vsd
             elif [ -f $dotcfg \
                    -a "$(head -1 $dotcfg 2>/dev/null)" = "$myname" ]; then
                 docopy=no
             else
                 echo "updating global configuration" >&2
             fi
             if [ $docopy = yes ]; then
               for f in "${APPDIR}"/usr/share/gnupg/conf/gnupg-vsd/* ; do
                 t="/etc/gnupg-vsd/${f##*/}"
                 if [ -d "$f" ]; then
                     cp -R "$f" /etc/gnupg-vsd/
                 elif [ -f "$t" ]; then
                     cp "$t" "$t.old"
                     cp "$f" "$t"
                     cmp -s "$t" "$t.old" && rm "$t.old"
                 else
                     cp "$f" "$t"
                 fi
               done
               echo "$myname" >$dotcfg
             fi
           fi
         fi
         if echo "$SHELL" | grep '/bash$' >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             pgm="${APPDIR}/start-shell"
             pgmargs=
             gnupg_SETUPINIFILE="/tmp/gnupg-tmp.$(id -u).$$.ini"
         else
             pgm="$SHELL"
             pgmargs="-i"
         fi
         echo Welcome to "$myname"\! >&2
         echo "(type \"exit\" to leave)" >&2
         echo "" >&2
     fi
 else
     if [ $(id -u) -eq 0 ]; then
         echo "error: the GUI may not be run by root" >&2
         exit 2
     fi
     # Ignore the optional --gui option
     if [ "$1" = "--gui" ]; then
         shift
     fi
     if [ -x "${this_dir}/usr/bin/kleopatra" ];then
         pgm="${this_dir}/usr/bin/kleopatra"
         pgmargs="$@"
     else
         echo "Kleopatra not found" >&2
         exit 2
     fi
 fi
 
 # The admin may tweak this script by creating a snippet to be sourced
 # here.  For example, this can be used to set a different per user
 # GNUPGHOME so that the entire installation will be separate from the
 # system's standard configuration.
 if [ -f $prestart_snippet ]; then
     . $prestart_snippet
 fi
 
 # In vsd mode create a .gnupg-vsd so that we use a dedicated homedir
 # in for VSD.  This is important on Linux because there gpg is a
 # standard tool and a .gnupg is often in active use.
 if [ ${_gnupg_appimage} = vsd -a -z "$GNUPGHOME" ]; then
     GNUPGHOME="$HOME/.gnupg-vsd"
     export GNUPGHOME
     if [ ! -d "$GNUPGHOME" ]; then
         mkdir "$GNUPGHOME"
         chmod 700 "$GNUPGHOME"
     fi
     # Create a script so that external programs have a way to figure
     # out information on this AppImage instance.  We don't fail on
     # write error so that it is usable also in read-only environments.
     cat > "$GNUPGHOME"/run-gpgconf <<EOF || true
 #!/bin/sh
 GNUPGHOME="$GNUPGHOME"
 APPDIR="$APPDIR"
 export GNUPGHOME APPDIR
 exec $APPDIR/usr/bin/gpgconf "\$@"
 EOF
     chmod +x "$GNUPGHOME"/run-gpgconf || true
 fi
 
 # Start gpg-agent launching a program.  gpg-agent will then watch for
 # termination of the program and kill itself after this has been
 # detected.  We also steal an existing socket so that already running
 # system instances of gpg-agent are not anymore used.
-"${this_dir}/usr/bin/gpg-agent" --steal-socket --daemon -- $pgm $pgmargs
+if [ $opt_keep_socket = yes ]; then
+   steal=""
+else
+   steal="--steal-socket"
+fi
+"${this_dir}/usr/bin/gpg-agent" $steal --daemon -- $pgm $pgmargs
 
 echo Goodbye from "$myname"\! >&2