diff --git a/agent/call-pinentry.c b/agent/call-pinentry.c
index e5977ad6a..a96406fa3 100644
--- a/agent/call-pinentry.c
+++ b/agent/call-pinentry.c
@@ -205,6 +205,7 @@ static int
 start_pinentry (ctrl_t ctrl)
 {
   int rc = 0;
+  const char *full_pgmname;
   const char *pgmname;
   assuan_context_t ctx;
   const char *argv[5];
@@ -257,11 +258,11 @@ start_pinentry (ctrl_t ctrl)
 #endif
     }
 
-  if (!opt.pinentry_program || !*opt.pinentry_program)
-    opt.pinentry_program = gnupg_module_name (GNUPG_MODULE_NAME_PINENTRY);
-  pgmname = opt.pinentry_program;
-  if ( !(pgmname = strrchr (opt.pinentry_program, '/')))
-    pgmname = opt.pinentry_program;
+  full_pgmname = opt.pinentry_program;
+  if (!full_pgmname || !*full_pgmname)
+    full_pgmname = gnupg_module_name (GNUPG_MODULE_NAME_PINENTRY);
+  if ( !(pgmname = strrchr (full_pgmname, '/')))
+    pgmname = full_pgmname;
   else
     pgmname++;
 
@@ -269,7 +270,7 @@ start_pinentry (ctrl_t ctrl)
      the resource bundle.  For other systems we stick to the usual
      convention of supplying only the name of the program.  */
 #ifdef __APPLE__
-  argv[0] = opt.pinentry_program;
+  argv[0] = full_pgmname;
 #else /*!__APPLE__*/
   argv[0] = pgmname;
 #endif /*__APPLE__*/
@@ -310,13 +311,13 @@ start_pinentry (ctrl_t ctrl)
      that atfork is used to change the environment for pinentry.  We
      start the server in detached mode to suppress the console window
      under Windows.  */
-  rc = assuan_pipe_connect (ctx, opt.pinentry_program, argv,
+  rc = assuan_pipe_connect (ctx, full_pgmname, argv,
 			    no_close_list, atfork_cb, ctrl,
 			    ASSUAN_PIPE_CONNECT_DETACHED);
   if (rc)
     {
       log_error ("can't connect to the PIN entry module '%s': %s\n",
-                 opt.pinentry_program, gpg_strerror (rc));
+                 full_pgmname, gpg_strerror (rc));
       assuan_release (ctx);
       return unlock_pinentry (gpg_error (GPG_ERR_NO_PIN_ENTRY));
     }
diff --git a/agent/gpg-agent.c b/agent/gpg-agent.c
index a874e76c2..6e1c76e20 100644
--- a/agent/gpg-agent.c
+++ b/agent/gpg-agent.c
@@ -1827,9 +1827,14 @@ agent_sighup_action (void)
 {
   log_info ("SIGHUP received - "
             "re-reading configuration and flushing cache\n");
+
   agent_flush_cache ();
   reread_configuration ();
   agent_reload_trustlist ();
+  /* We flush the module name cache so that after installing a
+     "pinentry" binary that one can be used in case the
+     "pinentry-basic" fallback was in use.  */
+  gnupg_module_name_flush_some ();
 }
 
 
diff --git a/common/homedir.c b/common/homedir.c
index 27141eb75..e3efcee7b 100644
--- a/common/homedir.c
+++ b/common/homedir.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 #ifdef HAVE_W32_SYSTEM
 #include <winsock2.h>   /* Due to the stupid mingw64 requirement to
@@ -607,6 +608,41 @@ dirmngr_user_socket_name (void)
 }
 
 
+/* Return the default pinentry name.  If RESET is true the internal
+   cache is first flushed.  */
+static const char *
+get_default_pinentry_name (int reset)
+{
+  static char *name;
+
+  if (reset)
+    {
+      xfree (name);
+      name = NULL;
+    }
+
+  if (!name)
+    {
+      name = xstrconcat (gnupg_bindir (),
+                         DIRSEP_S "pinentry" EXEEXT_S, NULL);
+      if (access (name, F_OK) && errno == ENOENT)
+        {
+          char *name2;
+          name2 = xstrconcat (gnupg_bindir (),
+                              DIRSEP_S "pinentry-basic" EXEEXT_S, NULL);
+          if (access (name2, F_OK))
+            xfree (name2); /* Does not exist.  */
+          else /* Switch to pinentry-basic.  */
+            {
+              xfree (name);
+              name = name2;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+  return name;
+}
+
+
 /* Return the file name of a helper tool.  WHICH is one of the
    GNUPG_MODULE_NAME_foo constants.  */
 const char *
@@ -630,9 +666,9 @@ gnupg_module_name (int which)
 
     case GNUPG_MODULE_NAME_PINENTRY:
 #ifdef GNUPG_DEFAULT_PINENTRY
-      return GNUPG_DEFAULT_PINENTRY;
+      return GNUPG_DEFAULT_PINENTRY;  /* (Set by a configure option) */
 #else
-      X(bindir, "pinentry");
+      return get_default_pinentry_name (0);
 #endif
 
     case GNUPG_MODULE_NAME_SCDAEMON:
@@ -683,3 +719,12 @@ gnupg_module_name (int which)
     }
 #undef X
 }
+
+
+/* Flush some of the cached module names.  This is for example used by
+   gpg-agent to allow configuring a different pinentry.  */
+void
+gnupg_module_name_flush_some (void)
+{
+  (void)get_default_pinentry_name (1);
+}
diff --git a/common/util.h b/common/util.h
index 24107f533..9103e094b 100644
--- a/common/util.h
+++ b/common/util.h
@@ -254,6 +254,7 @@ const char *dirmngr_user_socket_name (void);
 #define GNUPG_MODULE_NAME_GPGCONF       10
 #define GNUPG_MODULE_NAME_DIRMNGR_LDAP  11
 const char *gnupg_module_name (int which);
+void gnupg_module_name_flush_some (void);
 
 
 
diff --git a/doc/gpg-agent.texi b/doc/gpg-agent.texi
index 93264988d..84a7d60d9 100644
--- a/doc/gpg-agent.texi
+++ b/doc/gpg-agent.texi
@@ -445,8 +445,10 @@ This option does nothing yet.
 
 @item --pinentry-program @var{filename}
 @opindex pinentry-program
-Use program @var{filename} as the PIN entry.  The default is installation
-dependent.
+Use program @var{filename} as the PIN entry.  The default is
+installation dependent.  With the default configuration the name of
+the default pinentry is @file{pinentry}; if that file does not exist
+but a @file{pinentry-basic} exist the latter is used.
 
 @item --pinentry-touch-file @var{filename}
 @opindex pinentry-touch-file