diff --git a/floss/main.py b/floss/main.py
index acd288acf..91a780d89 100644
--- a/floss/main.py
+++ b/floss/main.py
@@ -198,8 +198,8 @@ def make_parser(argv):
     advanced_group.add_argument(
         "--language",
         type=str,
-        choices=[l.value for l in Language if l != Language.UNKNOWN] + ["none"],
-        default="",
+        choices=[lang.value for lang in Language if lang != Language.UNKNOWN] + ["none"],
+        default="none",
         help="use language-specific string extraction, disable using 'none'" if show_all_options else argparse.SUPPRESS,
     )
     advanced_group.add_argument(
@@ -548,15 +548,10 @@ def main(argv=None) -> int:
 
     # set language configurations
     lang_id: Language
-    if args.language == Language.GO.value:
-        lang_id = Language.GO
-    elif args.language == Language.RUST.value:
-        lang_id = Language.RUST
-    elif args.language == Language.DOTNET.value:
-        lang_id = Language.DOTNET
-    elif args.language == "none":
-        lang_id = Language.UNKNOWN
-    else:
+
+    try:
+        lang_id = Language(args.language)
+    except ValueError:
         lang_id = identify_language(sample, static_strings)
 
     if lang_id == Language.GO: