diff --git a/openbr/core/core.cpp b/openbr/core/core.cpp
index 2bbad5b..694bde3 100644
--- a/openbr/core/core.cpp
+++ b/openbr/core/core.cpp
@@ -522,41 +522,37 @@ struct AlgorithmCore
 private:
     QString name;
 
-    QString getFileName(const QString &description) const
-    {
-        const QString file = Globals->sdkPath + "/share/openbr/models/algorithms/" + description;
-        QFileInfo qFile(file);
-        return qFile.exists() && !qFile.isDir() ? file : QString();
-    }
-
-    void init(const QString &description)
+    // Check if description is either an abbreviation or a model file, if so load it
+    bool loadOrExpand(const QString & description)
     {
         // Check if a trained binary already exists for this algorithm
-        const QString file = getFileName(description);
-        if (!file.isEmpty()) return init(file);
+        QString file = Globals->sdkPath + "/share/openbr/models/algorithms/" + description;
+        QFileInfo eFile(file);
+        file = eFile.exists() && !eFile.isDir() ? file : description;
 
-        QFileInfo dFile(description);
-        if (dFile.exists()) {
+        QFileInfo dFile(file);
+        if (dFile.exists() && !dFile.isDir()) {
             qDebug("Loading %s", qPrintable(dFile.fileName()));
-            load(description);
-            return;
+            load(file);
+            return true;
         }
 
-        File parsed("."+description);
-        const QString parsedFname = getFileName(parsed.suffix());
-        QFileInfo pFile(parsedFname);
-        if (pFile.exists()) {
-            load(parsedFname);
-            applyAdditionalProperties(parsed, transform.data());
-            return;
+        // Expand abbreviated algorithms to their full strings
+        if (Globals->abbreviations.contains(description)) {
+            init(Globals->abbreviations[description]);
+            return true;
         }
+        return false;
+    }
 
-        // Expand abbreviated algorithms to their full strings
-        if (Globals->abbreviations.contains(description))
-            return init(Globals->abbreviations[description]);
+    void init(const QString &description)
+    {
+        if (loadOrExpand(description))
+            return;
 
-        if (Globals->abbreviations.contains(parsed.suffix())) {
-            init(Globals->abbreviations[parsed.suffix()]);
+        // check if the description is an abbreviation or model file with additional arguments supplied
+        File parsed("."+description);
+        if (loadOrExpand(parsed.suffix())) {
             applyAdditionalProperties(parsed, transform.data());
             return;
         }
diff --git a/openbr/openbr_plugin.cpp b/openbr/openbr_plugin.cpp
index 5c4544b..ef4ddb8 100644
--- a/openbr/openbr_plugin.cpp
+++ b/openbr/openbr_plugin.cpp
@@ -1443,7 +1443,7 @@ void Distance::compareBlock(const TemplateList &target, const TemplateList &quer
             else output->setRelative(compare(target[j], query[i]), i+queryOffset, j+targetOffset);
 }
 
-void br::applyAdditionalProperties(File & temp, Transform * target)
+void br::applyAdditionalProperties(const File &temp, Transform *target)
 {
     QVariantMap meta = temp.localMetadata();
     for (QVariantMap::iterator i = meta.begin(); i != meta.end(); ++i) {
diff --git a/openbr/plugins/openbr_internal.h b/openbr/plugins/openbr_internal.h
index 2b86b9b..2283760 100644
--- a/openbr/plugins/openbr_internal.h
+++ b/openbr/plugins/openbr_internal.h
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ public:
 };
 
 
-void applyAdditionalProperties(File & temp, Transform * target);
+void applyAdditionalProperties(const File &temp, Transform *target);
 
 }