diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 78e00dca..c369f1a4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
   - This allows a single Plex server to connect to multiple ETV instances
 - Include *all* language codes from media library in preferred audio and subtitle language options
   - Language codes where an English name cannot be found will be at the bottom of the list
+- Fix local libraries to detect external subtitle files with unrecognized language codes
+- Fix playback selection of subtitles with unrecognized language codes
 
 ### Changed
 - Remove some unnecessary API calls related to media server scanning and paging
diff --git a/ErsatzTV.Application/Channels/Commands/CreateChannelHandler.cs b/ErsatzTV.Application/Channels/Commands/CreateChannelHandler.cs
index 49498308..a59545d1 100644
--- a/ErsatzTV.Application/Channels/Commands/CreateChannelHandler.cs
+++ b/ErsatzTV.Application/Channels/Commands/CreateChannelHandler.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-using System.Globalization;
-using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
+using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
 using System.Threading.Channels;
 using ErsatzTV.Core;
 using ErsatzTV.Core.Domain;
@@ -39,7 +38,6 @@ public class CreateChannelHandler(
     private static async Task<Validation<BaseError, Channel>> Validate(TvContext dbContext, CreateChannel request) =>
         (ValidateName(request), await ValidateNumber(dbContext, request),
             await FFmpegProfileMustExist(dbContext, request),
-            ValidatePreferredSubtitleLanguage(request),
             await WatermarkMustExist(dbContext, request),
             await FillerPresetMustExist(dbContext, request))
         .Apply(
@@ -47,7 +45,6 @@ public class CreateChannelHandler(
                 name,
                 number,
                 ffmpegProfileId,
-                preferredSubtitleLanguageCode,
                 watermarkId,
                 fillerPresetId) =>
             {
@@ -76,7 +73,7 @@ public class CreateChannelHandler(
                     Artwork = artwork,
                     PreferredAudioLanguageCode = request.PreferredAudioLanguageCode,
                     PreferredAudioTitle = request.PreferredAudioTitle,
-                    PreferredSubtitleLanguageCode = preferredSubtitleLanguageCode,
+                    PreferredSubtitleLanguageCode = request.PreferredSubtitleLanguageCode,
                     SubtitleMode = request.SubtitleMode,
                     MusicVideoCreditsMode = request.MusicVideoCreditsMode,
                     MusicVideoCreditsTemplate = request.MusicVideoCreditsTemplate
@@ -99,13 +96,6 @@ public class CreateChannelHandler(
         createChannel.NotEmpty(c => c.Name)
             .Bind(_ => createChannel.NotLongerThan(50)(c => c.Name));
 
-    private static Validation<BaseError, string> ValidatePreferredSubtitleLanguage(CreateChannel createChannel) =>
-        Optional(createChannel.PreferredSubtitleLanguageCode ?? string.Empty)
-            .Filter(
-                lc => string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(lc) || CultureInfo.GetCultures(CultureTypes.NeutralCultures).Any(
-                    ci => string.Equals(ci.ThreeLetterISOLanguageName, lc, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)))
-            .ToValidation<BaseError>("Preferred subtitle language code is invalid");
-
     private static async Task<Validation<BaseError, string>> ValidateNumber(
         TvContext dbContext,
         CreateChannel createChannel)
diff --git a/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Data/Repositories/MediaItemRepository.cs b/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Data/Repositories/MediaItemRepository.cs
index 6bdb5772..21409bfa 100644
--- a/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Data/Repositories/MediaItemRepository.cs
+++ b/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Data/Repositories/MediaItemRepository.cs
@@ -217,6 +217,8 @@ public class MediaItemRepository : IMediaItemRepository
                 @"SELECT LanguageCode FROM
                     (SELECT Language AS LanguageCode
                     FROM MediaStream WHERE Language IS NOT NULL
+                    UNION ALL SELECT Language AS LanguageCode
+                    FROM Subtitle WHERE Language IS NOT NULL
                     UNION ALL SELECT PreferredAudioLanguageCode AS LanguageCode
                     FROM Channel WHERE PreferredAudioLanguageCode IS NOT NULL) AS A
                     GROUP BY LanguageCode
diff --git a/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Extensions/LanguageCodeQueryableExtensions.cs b/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Extensions/LanguageCodeQueryableExtensions.cs
index a26a7648..a9c66d63 100644
--- a/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Extensions/LanguageCodeQueryableExtensions.cs
+++ b/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Extensions/LanguageCodeQueryableExtensions.cs
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ public static class LanguageCodeQueryableExtensions
             .Filter(lc => validCodes.Contains(lc.ThreeCode1) || validCodes.Contains(lc.ThreeCode2))
             .ToListAsync();
 
-        var result = new System.Collections.Generic.HashSet<string>();
+        var result = new System.Collections.Generic.HashSet<string>(validCodes);
         foreach (LanguageCode language in maybeLanguages)
         {
             if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(language.ThreeCode1))
diff --git a/ErsatzTV.Scanner/Core/Metadata/LocalSubtitlesProvider.cs b/ErsatzTV.Scanner/Core/Metadata/LocalSubtitlesProvider.cs
index 120dc660..a3f59347 100644
--- a/ErsatzTV.Scanner/Core/Metadata/LocalSubtitlesProvider.cs
+++ b/ErsatzTV.Scanner/Core/Metadata/LocalSubtitlesProvider.cs
@@ -156,6 +156,29 @@ public class LocalSubtitlesProvider : ILocalSubtitlesProvider
             Option<CultureInfo> maybeCulture = languageCodes.Find(
                 ci => ci.TwoLetterISOLanguageName == language || ci.ThreeLetterISOLanguageName == language);
 
+            if (maybeCulture.IsNone)
+            {
+                _logger.LogDebug(
+                    "Located {Attribute} with unknown language code {Code} at {Path}",
+                    "External Subtitles",
+                    language,
+                    file);
+
+                result.Add(
+                    new Subtitle
+                    {
+                        SubtitleKind = SubtitleKind.Sidecar,
+                        Codec = codec,
+                        Default = false,
+                        Forced = forced,
+                        SDH = sdh,
+                        Language = language,
+                        Path = saveFullPath ? file : Path.GetFileName(file),
+                        DateAdded = DateTime.UtcNow,
+                        DateUpdated = _localFileSystem.GetLastWriteTime(file)
+                    });
+            }
+
             foreach (CultureInfo culture in maybeCulture)
             {
                 _logger.LogDebug("Located {Attribute} at {Path}", "External Subtitles", file);