diff --git a/src/fileio.c b/src/fileio.c
index 67e8cfe..3d47391 100644
--- a/src/fileio.c
+++ b/src/fileio.c
@@ -5550,9 +5550,10 @@
 	    name = "ucs-4le";	/* FF FE 00 00 */
 	    len = 4;
 	}
-	else if (flags == FIO_ALL || flags == (FIO_UCS2 | FIO_ENDIAN_L))
+	else if (flags == (FIO_UCS2 | FIO_ENDIAN_L))
 	    name = "ucs-2le";	/* FF FE */
-	else if (flags == (FIO_UTF16 | FIO_ENDIAN_L))
+	else if (flags == FIO_ALL || flags == (FIO_UTF16 | FIO_ENDIAN_L))
+	    /* utf-16le is preferred, it also works for ucs-2le text */
 	    name = "utf-16le";	/* FF FE */
     }
     else if (p[0] == 0xfe && p[1] == 0xff