diff --git a/src/tools/imgtool/imgtool.cpp b/src/tools/imgtool/imgtool.cpp
index 71aecb39f6e..bda9a0b83bf 100644
--- a/src/tools/imgtool/imgtool.cpp
+++ b/src/tools/imgtool/imgtool.cpp
@@ -164,23 +164,6 @@ static imgtoolerr_t markerrorsource(imgtoolerr_t err)
 	return err;
 }
 
-char *imgtool_basename(char *filename)
-{
-	char *c;
-
-	// NULL begets NULL
-	if (!filename)
-		return nullptr;
-
-	// start at the end and return when we hit a slash or colon
-	for (c = filename + strlen(filename) - 1; c >= filename; c--)
-		if (*c == '\\' || *c == '/' || *c == ':')
-			return c + 1;
-
-	// otherwise, return the whole thing
-	return filename;
-}
-
 /*-------------------------------------------------
     internal_error - debug function for raising
     internal errors
@@ -2102,9 +2085,13 @@ imgtoolerr_t imgtool_partition_put_file(imgtool_partition *partition, const char
 	imgtool_stream *f = nullptr;
 	imgtool_charset charset;
 	char *alloc_newfname = nullptr;
+	std::string basename;
 
 	if (!newfname)
-		newfname = (const char *) imgtool_basename((char *) source);
+	{
+		basename = core_filename_extract_base(source);
+		newfname = basename.c_str();
+	}
 
 	charset = (imgtool_charset) (int) imgtool_partition_get_info_int(partition, IMGTOOLINFO_INT_CHARSET);
 	if (charset != IMGTOOL_CHARSET_UTF8)
diff --git a/src/tools/imgtool/imgtool.h b/src/tools/imgtool/imgtool.h
index 65b843ec5b8..6313d5d988a 100644
--- a/src/tools/imgtool/imgtool.h
+++ b/src/tools/imgtool/imgtool.h
@@ -84,7 +84,6 @@ const imgtool_module *imgtool_find_module(const char *modulename);
 const imgtool::library::modulelist &imgtool_get_modules();
 imgtool_module_features imgtool_get_module_features(const imgtool_module *module);
 void imgtool_warn(const char *format, ...) ATTR_PRINTF(1,2);
-char *imgtool_basename(char *filename);
 
 /* ----- image management ----- */
 imgtoolerr_t imgtool_identify_file(const char *filename, imgtool_module **modules, size_t count);
diff --git a/src/tools/imgtool/main.cpp b/src/tools/imgtool/main.cpp
index bbc246a86fc..298b444bacb 100644
--- a/src/tools/imgtool/main.cpp
+++ b/src/tools/imgtool/main.cpp
@@ -23,9 +23,10 @@
 
 static void writeusage(FILE *f, int write_word_usage, const struct command *c, char *argv[])
 {
+	std::string cmdname = core_filename_extract_base(argv[0]);
 	fprintf(f, "%s %s %s %s\n",
 		(write_word_usage ? "Usage:" : "      "),
-		imgtool_basename(argv[0]),
+		cmdname.c_str(),
 		c->name,
 		c->usage ? c->usage : "");
 }
@@ -870,6 +871,7 @@ int CLIB_DECL main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	int result;
 	const struct command *c;
 	const char *sample_format = "coco_jvc_rsdos";
+	std::string cmdname = core_filename_extract_base(argv[0]);
 
 #ifdef MAME_DEBUG
 	if (imgtool_validitychecks())
@@ -929,9 +931,9 @@ int CLIB_DECL main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	fprintf(stderr, "<imagename> is the image filename; can specify a ZIP file for image name\n");
 
 	fprintf(stderr, "\nExample usage:\n");
-	fprintf(stderr, "\t%s dir %s myimageinazip.zip\n", imgtool_basename(argv[0]), sample_format);
-	fprintf(stderr, "\t%s get %s myimage.dsk myfile.bin mynewfile.txt\n", imgtool_basename(argv[0]), sample_format);
-	fprintf(stderr, "\t%s getall %s myimage.dsk\n", imgtool_basename(argv[0]), sample_format);
+	fprintf(stderr, "\t%s dir %s myimageinazip.zip\n", cmdname.c_str(), sample_format);
+	fprintf(stderr, "\t%s get %s myimage.dsk myfile.bin mynewfile.txt\n", cmdname.c_str(), sample_format);
+	fprintf(stderr, "\t%s getall %s myimage.dsk\n", cmdname.c_str(), sample_format);
 	result = 0;
 	goto done;