diff --git a/src/cmd/gc/dcl.c b/src/cmd/gc/dcl.c
index 601acf5e7eb..1c9f233097b 100644
--- a/src/cmd/gc/dcl.c
+++ b/src/cmd/gc/dcl.c
@@ -914,11 +914,13 @@ fninit(Node *n)
 	maxarg = 0;
 	stksize = 0;
 
-	vargen++;
-	h = vargen;
+	snprint(namebuf, sizeof(namebuf), "init_%s_function", filename);
+
+	// this is a botch since we need a known name to
+	// call the top level init function out of rt0
 	if(strcmp(package, "main") == 0)
-		h = 999;
-	snprint(namebuf, sizeof(namebuf), "init_%.3ld_function", h);
+		snprint(namebuf, sizeof(namebuf), "init_function");
+
 	b = nod(ODCLFUNC, N, N);
 	b->nname = newname(lookup(namebuf));
 	b->type = functype(N, N, N);
diff --git a/src/runtime/rt0_amd64.s b/src/runtime/rt0_amd64.s
index 5544833e4b6..20761464fb7 100644
--- a/src/runtime/rt0_amd64.s
+++ b/src/runtime/rt0_amd64.s
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ TEXT	_rt0_amd64(SB),7,$-8
 	MOVQ	24(SP), AX		// copy argv
 	MOVQ	AX, 8(SP)
 	CALL	args(SB)
-	CALL	main·init_999_function(SB) // initialization
+	CALL	main·init_function(SB) // initialization
 
 	// create a new goroutine to start program