diff --git a/libtcc.c b/libtcc.c
index a14cd5f..f0dbe75 100644
--- a/libtcc.c
+++ b/libtcc.c
@@ -2057,10 +2057,14 @@ PUB_FUNC int tcc_parse_args(TCCState *s, int argc, char **argv)
         }
     }
 
+    if (s->output_type == 0)
+	s->output_type = TCC_OUTPUT_EXE;
+
     if (pthread && s->output_type != TCC_OUTPUT_OBJ)
         tcc_set_options(s, "-lpthread");
 
-    tcc_set_linker(s, (const char *)linker_arg.data);
+    if (s->output_type == TCC_OUTPUT_EXE)
+	tcc_set_linker(s, (const char *)linker_arg.data);
     cstr_free(&linker_arg);
 
     return optind;
diff --git a/tcc.c b/tcc.c
index aacbd42..a0b1c70 100644
--- a/tcc.c
+++ b/tcc.c
@@ -264,9 +264,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         return 1;
     }
 
-    if (s->output_type == 0)
-	s->output_type = TCC_OUTPUT_EXE;
-
     if (s->option_m)
         exec_other_tcc(s, argv, s->option_m);