diff --git a/rc/detection/file.kak b/rc/detection/file.kak
index 2a0632c11..d0f8ec5e9 100644
--- a/rc/detection/file.kak
+++ b/rc/detection/file.kak
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 hook global BufOpenFile .* %{ evaluate-commands %sh{
     if [ -z "${kak_opt_filetype}" ]; then
-        mime=$(file -b -i "${kak_buffile}")
+        mime=$(file -b -i -L "${kak_buffile}")
         mime=${mime%;*}
         case "${mime}" in
             application/*+xml) filetype="xml" ;;