diff --git a/wakatime/__init__.py b/wakatime/__init__.py
index 93c4bce..a154a8a 100644
--- a/wakatime/__init__.py
+++ b/wakatime/__init__.py
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ def parseArguments(argv):
     parser.add_argument('--plugin', dest='plugin',
             help='optional text editor plugin name and version '+
                 'for User-Agent header')
-    parser.add_argument('--project', dest='project',
+    parser.add_argument('--project', dest='project_name',
             help='optional project name; will auto-discover by default')
     parser.add_argument('--key', dest='key',
             help='your wakatime api key; uses api_key from '+
@@ -310,12 +310,12 @@ def main(argv=None):
 
         stats = get_file_stats(args.targetFile)
 
-        project = args.project or find_project(args.targetFile, configs=configs)
+        project = find_project(args.targetFile, configs=configs)
         branch = None
         project_name = None
         if project:
             branch = project.branch()
-            project_name = project.name()
+            project_name = args.project_name or project.name()
 
         if send_action(
                 project=project_name,