diff --git a/spec/invidious/videos/captions_matching_spec.cr b/spec/invidious/videos/captions_matching_spec.cr
index ec36a9754..7ad0abde2 100644
--- a/spec/invidious/videos/captions_matching_spec.cr
+++ b/spec/invidious/videos/captions_matching_spec.cr
@@ -51,6 +51,14 @@ Spectator.describe Invidious::Videos::Captions do
       expect(matched.map(&.name)).to eq(["en-US", "en-GB"])
     end
 
+    it "prefers human base-language English over exact regional auto-generated" do
+      human = Invidious::Videos::Captions::Metadata.new("English", "en", "http://x", false)
+      auto_us = Invidious::Videos::Captions::Metadata.new("en-US", "en-US", "http://x", true)
+
+      matched = Invidious::Videos::Captions.matching([auto_us, human], ["English (United States)"])
+      expect(matched.map(&.name)).to eq(["English", "en-US"])
+    end
+
     it "ignores blank preference slots" do
       arabic = Invidious::Videos::Captions::Metadata.new("Arabic (auto-generated)", "ar", "http://x", true)
       matched = Invidious::Videos::Captions.matching([arabic], ["", "", ""])
diff --git a/src/invidious/videos/caption.cr b/src/invidious/videos/caption.cr
index 7340ffcb7..bdc498c96 100644
--- a/src/invidious/videos/caption.cr
+++ b/src/invidious/videos/caption.cr
@@ -87,7 +87,8 @@ module Invidious::Videos
     end
 
     # Tracks whose name or language matches the user's caption preferences,
-    # ranked by preference slot then human tracks before auto-generated.
+    # ranked by preference slot, then human tracks before auto-generated,
+    # then more-specific language matches ahead of base-language fallbacks.
     def self.matching(captions : Array(Metadata), names : Array(String)) : Array(Metadata)
       wanted = names.map(&.strip).reject(&.empty?)
       return [] of Metadata if wanted.empty?
@@ -208,7 +209,7 @@ module Invidious::Videos
       end
 
       auto_rank = caption.auto_generated ? 1 : 0
-      {pref_rank, specificity, auto_rank}
+      {pref_rank, auto_rank, specificity}
     end
 
     # List of all caption languages available on Youtube.