diff --git a/whispercpp.pyx b/whispercpp.pyx
index 519b4e1..24ea068 100644
--- a/whispercpp.pyx
+++ b/whispercpp.pyx
@@ -83,9 +83,9 @@ cdef class Whisper:
     cdef whisper_full_params params
 
     def __init__(self, char* model=DEFAULT_MODEL, pb=None):
-        model = f'model_ggml_{model.decode()}.bin'.encode('utf8')
-        download_model(model)
-        self.ctx = whisper_init(model)
+        model_fullname = f'model_ggml_{model.decode()}.bin'.encode('utf8')
+        download_model(model_fullname)
+        self.ctx = whisper_init(model_fullname)
         self.params = default_params()
 
     def __dealloc__(self):