diff --git a/lib/open.js b/lib/open.js
index ce4e9aa..fcb3dbb 100644
--- a/lib/open.js
+++ b/lib/open.js
@@ -28,9 +28,13 @@ function open(target, appName, callback) {
   switch (process.platform) {
   case 'darwin':
     if (appName) {
-      opener = 'open -a "' + escape(appName) + '"';
+        if (appName === '--background') {
+            opener = 'open -g ';
+        } else {
+            opener = 'open -a "' + escape(appName) + '"';
+        }
     } else {
-      opener = 'open';
+        opener = 'open';
     }
     break;
   case 'win32':