diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index ce7ef2526..dc049e0c5 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+# Version ?
+
+## Bug fixes
+
+* Linux AppImage: the AppImage will no longer change directories before
+  running the desired executable allow the use of relative file names. Fixes
+  #2632.
+
+
 # Version 38.0.0 "The Silent Type" 2019-10-06
 
 ## New features and enhancements
diff --git a/packaging/appimage/build.sh b/packaging/appimage/build.sh
index c331c871d..bd68384ce 100755
--- a/packaging/appimage/build.sh
+++ b/packaging/appimage/build.sh
@@ -148,7 +148,12 @@ drake -j${JOBS} apps:mkvtoolnix-gui
 drake -j${JOBS}
 drake install DESTDIR="${APP_DIR}"
 
-cd appimage/${APP}.AppDir/usr
+cd appimage/${APP}.AppDir
+
+cp "${TOP_DIR}/packaging/appimage/select-binary.sh" AppRun
+chmod 0755 AppRun
+
+cd usr
 
 # Qt plugins
 mkdir -p bin/{audio,mediaservice,platforms}
@@ -158,9 +163,6 @@ cp ${QTDIR}/plugins/platforms/libq{minimal,offscreen,wayland,xcb}*.so bin/platfo
 
 find bin -type f -exec strip {} \+
 
-cp "${TOP_DIR}/packaging/appimage/select-binary.sh" bin/
-chmod 0755 bin/select-binary.sh
-
 mkdir -p lib lib64
 chmod u+rwx lib lib64
 
@@ -200,8 +202,6 @@ cp ./usr/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/mkvtoolnix-gui.png .
 cp ./usr/share/applications/org.bunkus.mkvtoolnix-gui.desktop mkvtoolnix-gui.desktop
 
 fix_desktop mkvtoolnix-gui.desktop
-sed -i -e 's/^Exec=.*/Exec=select-binary.sh %F/' mkvtoolnix-gui.desktop
 
-get_apprun
 cd ..
 generate_type2_appimage
diff --git a/packaging/appimage/select-binary.sh b/packaging/appimage/select-binary.sh
index a3c142ca9..aec87ca78 100755
--- a/packaging/appimage/select-binary.sh
+++ b/packaging/appimage/select-binary.sh
@@ -1,12 +1,28 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-BIN_DIR="$(dirname "$(readlink -f "${0}")")"
+APPIMAGE_DIR="$(dirname "$(readlink -f "${0}")")"
 
+# Adopted from AppRun.c
+export GSETTINGS_SCHEMA_DIR="$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/:$GSETTINGS_SCHEMA_DIR"
+export GST_PLUGIN_SYSTEM_PATH="$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib/gstreamer:$GST_PLUGIN_SYSTEM_PATH"
+export GST_PLUGIN_SYSTEM_PATH_1_0="$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib/gstreamer-1.0:$GST_PLUGIN_SYSTEM_PATH_1_0"
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib32/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib64/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/lib/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/lib/i386-linux-gnu/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/lib32/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/lib64/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
+export PATH="$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/bin/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/sbin/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/games/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/bin/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/sbin/:$PATH"
+export PERLLIB="$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/share/perl5/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib/perl5/:$PERLLIB"
+export PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1
+export PYTHONHOME="$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/"
+export PYTHONPATH="$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/share/pyshared/:$PYTHONPATH"
+export QT_PLUGIN_PATH="$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib/qt4/plugins/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/qt4/plugins/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt4/plugins/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib32/qt4/plugins/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib64/qt4/plugins/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib/qt5/plugins/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib32/qt5/plugins/:$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/lib64/qt5/plugins/:$QT_PLUGIN_PATH"
+export XDG_DATA_DIRS="$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/share/:/usr/local/share/:/usr/share"
+
+# Get binary to run from executable's name: symlink the AppImage to
+# e.g. "mkvmerge", execute that symlink & mkvmerge will be run from
+# inside the AppImage. If no such binary exists, fall back to the GUI.
 if [ ! -z $APPIMAGE ] ; then
   BINARY_NAME="$(basename "$ARGV0")"
-  if [ -e "$BIN_DIR/$BINARY_NAME" ] ; then
-    exec "$BIN_DIR/$BINARY_NAME" "$@"
+  if [ -e "$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/bin/$BINARY_NAME" ] ; then
+    exec "$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/bin/$BINARY_NAME" "$@"
   fi
 fi
 
-exec "$BIN_DIR/mkvtoolnix-gui" "$@"
+exec "$APPIMAGE_DIR/usr/bin/mkvtoolnix-gui" "$@"