diff --git a/desktop_version/src/VFormat.c b/desktop_version/src/VFormat.c
index f71766ea..ae8eff90 100644
--- a/desktop_version/src/VFormat.c
+++ b/desktop_version/src/VFormat.c
@@ -245,7 +245,8 @@ void vformat_cb_valist(
                 trim_whitespace(&arg_name, &arg_name_len);
                 trim_whitespace(&arg_type, &arg_type_len);
 
-                match = (arg_name_len == name_len && SDL_memcmp(arg_name, name, name_len) == 0);
+                match = (arg_name_len == name_len && SDL_memcmp(arg_name, name, name_len) == 0)
+                     || (arg_name_len == 1 && arg_name[0] == '_');
 
                 if (arg_type_len == 3 && SDL_memcmp(arg_type, "int", 3) == 0)
                 {
diff --git a/desktop_version/src/VFormat.h b/desktop_version/src/VFormat.h
index 3723524b..c2a826f1 100644
--- a/desktop_version/src/VFormat.h
+++ b/desktop_version/src/VFormat.h
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@
  *  - str   const char*
  *  - but   Controller button icon
  *
+ * Special case: if an argument name is a single underscore (_), it matches
+ * any name not found earlier in the list. This should normally not be needed.
+ *
  * Full example:
  *
  *  char buffer[100];