diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7c3b874..371f622 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ Features of Mozhi can be customized and toggled on/off using Environment Variabl
 - `MOZHI_PORT`: Port the webserver listens on (if hosting API)
 - `MOZHI_LIBRETRANSLATE_URL`: URL of Libretranslate instance (Example: `MOZHI_LIBRETRANSLATE_URL=https://lt.psf.lt`)
 - `MOZHI_DEFAULT_SOURCE_LANG`: Language to default to if no source language is set by user. Defaults to Auto-Detect (or first available language in engines which dont support it)
+- `MOZHI_DEFAULT_PREFER_AUTODETECT`: Prefer autodetect if available instead of specified/default source language. Defaults to false
 - `MOZHI_DEFAULT_TARGET_LANG`: Language to default to if no target language is set by user. Defaults to English
 
 These envvars turn off/on engines. By default all of them are enabled.
diff --git a/pages/index.go b/pages/index.go
index 928fd48..7bacf54 100644
--- a/pages/index.go
+++ b/pages/index.go
@@ -93,8 +93,9 @@ func HandleIndex(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
 	}
 
 	defaultLang := os.Getenv("MOZHI_DEFAULT_SOURCE_LANG")
+	preferAutoDetect := os.Getenv("MOZHI_DEFAULT_PREFER_AUTODETECT")
 	defaultLangTarget := os.Getenv("MOZHI_DEFAULT_TARGET_LANG")
-	if defaultLang == "" {
+	if defaultLang == "" || preferAutoDetect == "true" {
 		defaultLang = "auto"
 	}
 	if defaultLangTarget == "" {