diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/github/damontecres/wholphin/services/StreamChoiceService.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/github/damontecres/wholphin/services/StreamChoiceService.kt
index 3a3a3e9c..c0a9465e 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/github/damontecres/wholphin/services/StreamChoiceService.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/github/damontecres/wholphin/services/StreamChoiceService.kt
@@ -277,11 +277,13 @@ class StreamChoiceService
                     SubtitlePlaybackMode.ALWAYS -> {
                         if (subtitleLanguage.isNotNullOrBlank()) {
                             candidates.firstOrNull {
-                                it.language.equals(subtitleLanguage, true) ||
-                                    it.language.isUnknown
+                                // Prefer non-forced first
+                                !it.isForced && it.language.equalsLangOrUnknown(subtitleLanguage)
+                            } ?: candidates.firstOrNull {
+                                it.language.equalsLangOrUnknown(subtitleLanguage)
                             }
                         } else {
-                            candidates.firstOrNull()
+                            candidates.firstOrNull { !it.isForced } ?: candidates.firstOrNull()
                         }
                     }
 
@@ -371,3 +373,5 @@ private val String?.isUnknown: Boolean
             this.equals("undetermined", true) ||
             this.equals("mul", true) ||
             this.equals("zxx", true)
+
+private fun String?.equalsLangOrUnknown(lang: String): Boolean = equals(lang, ignoreCase = true) || this.isUnknown
diff --git a/app/src/test/java/com/github/damontecres/wholphin/services/StreamChoiceServiceTest.kt b/app/src/test/java/com/github/damontecres/wholphin/services/StreamChoiceServiceTest.kt
index e16bc4e5..61f0f136 100644
--- a/app/src/test/java/com/github/damontecres/wholphin/services/StreamChoiceServiceTest.kt
+++ b/app/src/test/java/com/github/damontecres/wholphin/services/StreamChoiceServiceTest.kt
@@ -102,6 +102,56 @@ class StreamChoiceServiceTest(
                         ),
                     itemPlayback = itemPlayback(subtitleIndex = TrackIndex.UNSPECIFIED),
                 ),
+                TestInput(
+                    1,
+                    SubtitlePlaybackMode.ALWAYS,
+                    userSubtitleLang = "eng",
+                    subtitles =
+                        listOf(
+                            subtitle(0, "eng", default = true, forced = true),
+                            subtitle(1, "eng", default = false, forced = false),
+                        ),
+                ),
+                TestInput(
+                    1,
+                    SubtitlePlaybackMode.ALWAYS,
+                    userSubtitleLang = null,
+                    subtitles =
+                        listOf(
+                            subtitle(0, "eng", default = true, forced = true),
+                            subtitle(1, "eng", default = false, forced = false),
+                        ),
+                ),
+                TestInput(
+                    0,
+                    SubtitlePlaybackMode.SMART,
+                    userSubtitleLang = "eng",
+                    subtitles =
+                        listOf(
+                            subtitle(0, "eng", default = true, forced = true),
+                            subtitle(1, "eng", default = false, forced = false),
+                        ),
+                ),
+                TestInput(
+                    0,
+                    SubtitlePlaybackMode.ONLY_FORCED,
+                    userSubtitleLang = "eng",
+                    subtitles =
+                        listOf(
+                            subtitle(0, "eng", default = true, forced = true),
+                            subtitle(1, "eng", default = false, forced = false),
+                        ),
+                ),
+                TestInput(
+                    null,
+                    SubtitlePlaybackMode.NONE,
+                    userSubtitleLang = "eng",
+                    subtitles =
+                        listOf(
+                            subtitle(0, "eng", default = true, forced = true),
+                            subtitle(1, "eng", default = false, forced = false),
+                        ),
+                ),
             )
     }
 }
@@ -277,6 +327,7 @@ class TestStreamChoiceServiceSmart(
                 TestInput(
                     0,
                     SubtitlePlaybackMode.SMART,
+                    userSubtitleLang = "eng",
                     subtitles =
                         listOf(
                             subtitle(0, "eng", false),
@@ -488,7 +539,7 @@ class TestStreamChoiceServiceMultipleChoices(
         fun data(): Collection<TestInput> =
             listOf(
                 TestInput(
-                    0,
+                    1,
                     SubtitlePlaybackMode.ALWAYS,
                     subtitles =
                         listOf(