diff --git a/src/config_gram.y b/src/config_gram.y
index 6cb3fd07..29c2ca1e 100644
--- a/src/config_gram.y
+++ b/src/config_gram.y
@@ -275,6 +275,9 @@ prog_def :
         yyerror("programmer type not specified");
         YYABORT;
       }
+      if(!current_prog->prog_modes && cx->lex_kw_is_programmer)
+        yywarning("programmer %s fails to specify prog_modes = PM_...;",
+          (char *) ldata(lfirst(current_prog->id)));
       for(LNODEID ln = lfirst(current_prog->id); ln; ln = lnext(ln)) {
         char *id = ldata(ln);
         if((existing_prog = locate_programmer(programmers, id))) {
diff --git a/src/lexer.l b/src/lexer.l
index 32f57b3e..679d921a 100644
--- a/src/lexer.l
+++ b/src/lexer.l
@@ -226,7 +226,8 @@ part             { yylval=NULL; ccap(); current_strct = COMP_AVRPART; return K_P
 pgm_enable       { yylval=new_token(K_PGM_ENABLE); ccap(); return K_PGM_ENABLE; }
 pgmled           { yylval=NULL; ccap(); return K_PGMLED; }
 pp_controlstack  { yylval=NULL; ccap(); return K_PP_CONTROLSTACK; }
-(programmer|serialadapter) { yylval=NULL; ccap(); current_strct = COMP_PROGRAMMER; return K_PROGRAMMER; }
+(programmer|serialadapter) { yylval=NULL; ccap(); current_strct = COMP_PROGRAMMER;
+                   cx->lex_kw_is_programmer = *yytext == 'p'; return K_PROGRAMMER; }
 rdyled           { yylval=NULL; ccap(); return K_RDYLED; }
 read             { yylval=new_token(K_READ); ccap(); return K_READ; }
 read_hi          { yylval=new_token(K_READ_HI); ccap(); return K_READ_HI; }
diff --git a/src/libavrdude.h b/src/libavrdude.h
index a4eb685e..0fece9dd 100644
--- a/src/libavrdude.h
+++ b/src/libavrdude.h
@@ -1563,7 +1563,7 @@ typedef struct {
   uint16_t dfu_wIndex;          // A running number for USB messages
 
   // Static variable from config_gram.y
- int cfgy_pin_name;             // Temporary variable for grammar parsing
+  int cfgy_pin_name;            // Temporary variable for grammar parsing
 
   // Static variable from ppi.c
   unsigned char ppi_shadow[3];
@@ -1604,6 +1604,9 @@ typedef struct {
   char usb_buf[USBDEV_MAX_XFER_3];
   int usb_buflen, usb_bufptr; // @@@ Check whether usb_buflen needs initialising with -1
   int usb_interface;
+
+  // Variable connecting lexer.l and config_gram.y
+  int lex_kw_is_programmer;     // Was the K_PROGRAMMER keyword "programmer"?
 } libavrdude_context;
 
 extern libavrdude_context *cx;