diff --git a/qurator/eynollah/eynollah.py b/qurator/eynollah/eynollah.py
index ff3ceac..d6f70c3 100644
--- a/qurator/eynollah/eynollah.py
+++ b/qurator/eynollah/eynollah.py
@@ -515,6 +515,9 @@ class Eynollah:
         gpu_options = tf.compat.v1.GPUOptions(allow_growth=True)
         #gpu_options = tf.compat.v1.GPUOptions(per_process_gpu_memory_fraction=7.7, allow_growth=True)
         session = tf.compat.v1.Session(config=tf.compat.v1.ConfigProto(gpu_options=gpu_options))
+        if model_dir.endswith('.h5') and Path(model_dir[:-3]).exists():
+            # prefer SavedModel over HDF5 format if it exists
+            model_dir = model_dir[:-3]
         model = load_model(model_dir, compile=False)
 
         return model, session