diff --git a/src/ytdl_sub/plugins/music_tags.py b/src/ytdl_sub/plugins/music_tags.py
index b33fd2f5..e8698dc9 100644
--- a/src/ytdl_sub/plugins/music_tags.py
+++ b/src/ytdl_sub/plugins/music_tags.py
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ class MusicTagsOptions(OptionsDictValidator):
         self._embed_thumbnail = self._validate_key_if_present(
             key="embed_thumbnail", validator=BoolValidator
         )
-        self._is_old_format = old_tags_validator is not None or self._embed_thumbnail is not None
+        self._is_old_format = old_tags_validator._dict or self._embed_thumbnail is not None
 
         new_tags_dict: Dict[str, Any] = copy.deepcopy(value)
         new_tags_dict.pop("tags", None)