diff --git a/transcribe.cpp b/transcribe.cpp
index 59274ed26..a0b2c2697 100644
--- a/transcribe.cpp
+++ b/transcribe.cpp
@@ -736,6 +736,10 @@ bool Transcribe::runWhisperNative(const char *wav, const char *language, const c
 bool Transcribe::runWhisperNative(float *pcm_data, size_t pcm_data_samples, const char *language, const char *model, int threads, 
 				  string *language_detect, list<sSegment> *segments, string *error, 
 				  bool log, sTranscribeWavChannelParams *params) {
+	if(strcasecmp(language, "auto") && whisper_lang_id(language) == -1) {
+		*error = "unknown language";
+		return(false);
+	}
 	float max_sample = 0;
 	for(size_t i = 0; i < pcm_data_samples; i++) {
 		if(fabs(pcm_data[i]) > max_sample) {
@@ -768,10 +772,6 @@ bool Transcribe::runWhisperNative(float *pcm_data, size_t pcm_data_samples, cons
 			if(!log) {
 				whisper_log_set(whisper_native_cb_log_disable, NULL);
 			}
-			if(strcasecmp(language, "auto") && whisper_lang_id(language) == -1) {
-				*error = "unknown language";
-				return(false);
-			}
 			struct whisper_context_params cparams = whisper_context_default_params();
 			struct whisper_context *ctx = whisper_init_from_file_with_params(model, cparams);
 			if(!ctx) {
@@ -858,7 +858,7 @@ bool Transcribe::runWhisperNative(float *pcm_data, size_t pcm_data_samples, cons
 		if(log) {
 			cout << "max sample: " << max_sample << " - BLANK DATA" << endl;
 		}
-		*language_detect = "--";
+		*language_detect = strcasecmp(language, "auto") ? language : "--";
 		sSegment segment;
 		segment.start = 0;
 		segment.stop = 0;