diff -Nru xloadimage.4.1.orig/xloadimage.c xloadimage.4.1/xloadimage.c
--- xloadimage.4.1.orig/xloadimage.c	1993-11-05 15:11:46.000000000 +0100
+++ xloadimage.4.1/xloadimage.c	2005-10-30 18:17:03.000000000 +0100
@@ -236,18 +236,6 @@
     exit(0);
   }
 
-  /* start talking to the display
-   */
-
-  opt= getOption(global_options, DISPLAY);
-  dname= (opt ? opt->info.display : NULL);
-  if (! (Disp= disp= XOpenDisplay(dname))) {
-    printf("%s: Cannot open display\n", XDisplayName(dname));
-    exit(1);
-  }
-  Scrn= scrn= DefaultScreen(disp);
-  XSetErrorHandler(errorHandler);
-
   /* background ourselves if the user asked us to
    */
 
@@ -264,6 +252,18 @@
     }
 #endif /* !NO_FORK */
 
+  /* start talking to the display
+   */
+
+  opt= getOption(global_options, DISPLAY);
+  dname= (opt ? opt->info.display : NULL);
+  if (! (Disp= disp= XOpenDisplay(dname))) {
+    printf("%s: Cannot open display\n", XDisplayName(dname));
+    exit(1);
+  }
+  Scrn= scrn= DefaultScreen(disp);
+  XSetErrorHandler(errorHandler);
+
   dispimage= NULL;
 
   onroot= (getOption(global_options, ONROOT) != NULL);