We present a new approach to study the one-dimensional Dirac equation in the background of a position-dependent mass m. Taking the Fermi velocity v f to be a local variable, we explore the resulting structure of the coupled equations and arrive at an interesting constraint of m turning out to be the inverse square of v f. We address several solvable systems that include the free particle, shifted harmonic oscillator, Coulomb and nonpolynomial potentials. In particular, in the supersymmetric quantum mechanics context, the upper partner of the effective potential yields a new form for an inverse quadratic functional choice of the Fermi velocity. © 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd.