diff --git a/Annex/YoutubeDl.hs b/Annex/YoutubeDl.hs
index 5ab4d2bc06..0af0637061 100644
--- a/Annex/YoutubeDl.hs
+++ b/Annex/YoutubeDl.hs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ module Annex.YoutubeDl (
 	youtubeDlCheck,
 	youtubeDlFileName,
 	youtubeDlFileNameHtmlOnly,
+	youtubeDlCommand,
 ) where
 
 import Annex.Common
@@ -74,18 +75,18 @@ youtubeDl' url workdir p uo
 			( runcmd cmd >>= \case
 				Right True -> downloadedfiles cmd >>= \case
 					(f:[]) -> return (Right (Just f))
-					[] -> return nofiles
-					fs -> return (toomanyfiles fs)
+					[] -> return (nofiles cmd)
+					fs -> return (toomanyfiles cmd fs)
 				Right False -> workdirfiles >>= \case
 					[] -> return (Right Nothing)
-					_ -> return (Left "yt-dlp download is incomplete. Run the command again to resume.")
+					_ -> return (Left $ cmd ++ " download is incomplete. Run the command again to resume.")
 				Left msg -> return (Left msg)
 			, return (Right Nothing)
 			)
 	| otherwise = return (Right Nothing)
   where
-	nofiles = Left "yt-dlp did not put any media in its work directory, perhaps it's been configured to store files somewhere else?"
-	toomanyfiles fs = Left $ "yt-dlp downloaded multiple media files; git-annex is only able to deal with one per url: " ++ show fs
+	nofiles cmd = Left $ cmd ++ " did not put any media in its work directory, perhaps it's been configured to store files somewhere else?"
+	toomanyfiles cmd fs = Left $ cmd ++ " downloaded multiple media files; git-annex is only able to deal with one per url: " ++ show fs
 	downloadedfiles cmd
 		| isytdlp cmd = liftIO $ 
 			(lines <$> readFile filelistfile)
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ youtubeDl' url workdir p uo
 		<$> (filterM (doesFileExist) =<< dirContents workdir)
 	filelistfile = workdir </> filelistfilebase
 	filelistfilebase = "git-annex-file-list-file"
-	isytdlp cmd = "yt-dlp" `isInfixOf` cmd
+	isytdlp cmd = cmd == "yt-dlp"
 	runcmd cmd = youtubeDlMaxSize workdir >>= \case
 		Left msg -> return (Left msg)
 		Right maxsize -> do
@@ -271,7 +272,10 @@ youtubeDlOpts addopts = do
 youtubeDlCommand :: Annex String
 youtubeDlCommand = annexYoutubeDlCommand <$> Annex.getGitConfig >>= \case
 	Just c -> pure c
-	Nothing -> fromMaybe "youtube-dl" <$> liftIO (searchPath "yt-dlp")
+	Nothing -> ifM (liftIO $ inSearchPath "yt-dlp")
+		( return "yt-dlp"
+		, return "youtube-dl"
+		)
 
 supportedScheme :: UrlOptions -> URLString -> Bool
 supportedScheme uo url = case parseURIRelaxed url of
diff --git a/Command/AddUrl.hs b/Command/AddUrl.hs
index 988131c89e..018dedc882 100644
--- a/Command/AddUrl.hs
+++ b/Command/AddUrl.hs
@@ -353,21 +353,25 @@ downloadWeb addunlockedmatcher o url urlinfo file =
 	  where
 		dl dest = withTmpWorkDir mediakey $ \workdir -> do
 			let cleanuptmp = pruneTmpWorkDirBefore tmp (liftIO . removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink)
-			showNote "using youtube-dl"
+			dlcmd <- youtubeDlCommand
+			showNote ("using " <> UnquotedString dlcmd)
 			Transfer.notifyTransfer Transfer.Download url $
-				Transfer.download' webUUID mediakey (AssociatedFile Nothing) Nothing Transfer.noRetry $ \p ->
+				Transfer.download' webUUID mediakey (AssociatedFile Nothing) Nothing Transfer.noRetry $ \p -> do
+					showDestinationFile dest
 					youtubeDl url (fromRawFilePath workdir) p >>= \case
 						Right (Just mediafile) -> do
 							cleanuptmp
 							checkCanAdd o dest $ \canadd -> do
-								showDestinationFile dest
 								addWorkTree canadd addunlockedmatcher webUUID mediaurl dest mediakey (Just (toRawFilePath mediafile))
 								return $ Just mediakey
-						Right Nothing -> checkRaw Nothing o (pure Nothing) (normalfinish tmp backend)
 						Left msg -> do
 							cleanuptmp
 							warning (UnquotedString msg)
 							return Nothing
+						Right Nothing -> do
+							cleanuptmp
+							warning (UnquotedString dlcmd <> " did not download anything")
+							return Nothing
 		mediaurl = setDownloader url YoutubeDownloader
 		mediakey = Backend.URL.fromUrl mediaurl Nothing
 		-- Does the already annexed file have the mediaurl