diff --git a/src/lib/server/CServer.cpp b/src/lib/server/CServer.cpp
index 6bb8845e..ab87fac9 100644
--- a/src/lib/server/CServer.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/server/CServer.cpp
@@ -1669,10 +1669,10 @@ CServer::onMouseUp(ButtonID id)
 	}
 	
 	if (m_enableDragDrop && !m_screen->isOnScreen()) {
-		CString& dir = m_screen->getDraggingFilename();
-		if (!dir.empty()) {
-			LOG((CLOG_DEBUG "send file to client: %s", dir.c_str()));
-			sendFileToClient(dir.c_str());
+		CString& file = m_screen->getDraggingFilename();
+		if (!file.empty()) {
+			LOG((CLOG_DEBUG "send file to client: %s", file.c_str()));
+			sendFileToClient(file.c_str());
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/synwinxt/CDataHandlerExtension.cpp b/src/lib/synwinxt/CDataHandlerExtension.cpp
index 57ce01ff..e26dcbf1 100644
--- a/src/lib/synwinxt/CDataHandlerExtension.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/synwinxt/CDataHandlerExtension.cpp
@@ -85,11 +85,9 @@ CDataHandlerExtension::Release()
 HRESULT STDMETHODCALLTYPE
 CDataHandlerExtension::Load(__RPC__in LPCOLESTR pszFileName, DWORD dwMode)
 {
-	outputDebugStringF("synwinxt: > CDataHandlerExtension::Load\n");
-	
+	outputDebugStringF("synwinxt: > CDataHandlerExtension::Load\n");
 	std::string fileName = _bstr_t(pszFileName);
 	setDraggingFilename(fileName.c_str());
-	
 	outputDebugStringF("synwinxt: < CDataHandlerExtension::Load\n");
 	return S_OK;
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/synwinxt/synwinxt.cpp b/src/lib/synwinxt/synwinxt.cpp
index 8cea1974..87eb4a5a 100644
--- a/src/lib/synwinxt/synwinxt.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/synwinxt/synwinxt.cpp
@@ -281,11 +281,37 @@ unregisterShellExtDataHandler(CHAR* fileType, const CLSID& clsid)
 	return hr;
 }
 
+std::string
+getFileExt(const char* filenameCStr)
+{
+	std::string filename = filenameCStr;
+	size_t findExt = filename.find_last_of(".", filename.size());
+	if (findExt != std::string::npos) {
+		return filename.substr(findExt + 1, filename.size() - findExt - 1);
+	}
+	return "";
+}
+
 void
 setDraggingFilename(const char* filename)
 {
 	outputDebugStringF("synwinxt: > setDraggingFilename, filename=%s\n", filename);
-	memcpy(g_draggingFilename, filename, MAX_PATH);
+	
+	// HACK: only handle files that are not .exe or .lnk
+	// dragging anything, including a selection marquee, from a program
+	// (e.g. explorer.exe) will cause this function to be called with the
+	// path of that program. currently we don't know how to test for this
+	// situation, so just ignore exe and lnk files.
+	std::string ext = getFileExt(filename);
+	if ((ext != "exe") && (ext != "lnk")) {
+		memcpy(g_draggingFilename, filename, MAX_PATH);
+	}
+	else {
+		outputDebugStringF(
+			"synwinxt: ignoring filename=%s, ext=%s\n",
+			filename, ext.c_str());
+	}
+
 	outputDebugStringF("synwinxt: < setDraggingFilename, g_draggingFilename=%s\n", g_draggingFilename);
 }
 
@@ -294,5 +320,10 @@ getDraggingFilename(char* filename)
 {
 	outputDebugStringF("synwinxt: > getDraggingFilename\n");
 	memcpy(filename, g_draggingFilename, MAX_PATH);
+	
+	// mark string as empty once used, so we can't accidentally copy
+	// the same file more than once unless the user does this on purpose.
+	g_draggingFilename[0] = NULL;
+
 	outputDebugStringF("synwinxt: < getDraggingFilename, filename=%s\n", filename);
 }