diff --git a/src/syncterm/syncterm.c b/src/syncterm/syncterm.c
index 9fcec99172907c0c9cdbd395262b012ab27d3863..7ebf7042424a1473ac3794cb17a6f1f217bbbfd5 100644
--- a/src/syncterm/syncterm.c
+++ b/src/syncterm/syncterm.c
@@ -1121,7 +1121,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	load_settings(&settings);
 	ciolib_mode=settings.output_mode;
-	text_mode=screen_to_ciolib(settings.startup_mode);
+	text_mode=_ORIGMODE;
 
 	for(i=1;i<argc;i++) {
         if(argv[i][0]=='-'