diff --git a/usr.bin/sort/sort.c b/usr.bin/sort/sort.c
index 43ae43ce4650..17f316b8ca36 100644
--- a/usr.bin/sort/sort.c
+++ b/usr.bin/sort/sort.c
@@ -1168,6 +1168,11 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	argc -= optind;
 	argv += optind;
 
+	if (argv_from_file0) {
+		argc = argc_from_file0;
+		argv = argv_from_file0;
+	}
+
 #ifndef WITHOUT_NLS
 	catalog = catopen("sort", NL_CAT_LOCALE);
 #endif
@@ -1205,11 +1210,6 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 		ks->sm.func = get_sort_func(&(ks->sm));
 	}
 
-	if (argv_from_file0) {
-		argc = argc_from_file0;
-		argv = argv_from_file0;
-	}
-
 	if (debug_sort) {
 		printf("Memory to be used for sorting: %llu\n",available_free_memory);
 #if defined(SORT_THREADS)