diff --git a/src/c/file.d b/src/c/file.d
index 22e0e9f18..8e67d5a7d 100644
--- a/src/c/file.d
+++ b/src/c/file.d
@@ -3063,9 +3063,8 @@ parse_external_format(cl_object stream, cl_object format, int flags)
 		return (flags & ~ECL_STREAM_FORMAT) | ECL_STREAM_USER_FORMAT;
 	}
 	if (SYMBOLP(format)) {
-		stream->stream.format_table = _ecl_funcall2(@'ext::make-encoding',
-							 format);
-		return (flags & ~ECL_STREAM_FORMAT) | ECL_STREAM_USER_FORMAT;
+		format = _ecl_funcall2(@'ext::make-encoding', format);
+		return parse_external_format(stream, format, flags);
 	}
 #endif
 	FEerror("Unknown or unsupported external format: ~A", 1, format);