diff --git a/src/tools/uchardet.cpp b/src/tools/uchardet.cpp
index d5ff167..3aa65da 100644
--- a/src/tools/uchardet.cpp
+++ b/src/tools/uchardet.cpp
@@ -190,7 +190,10 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv)
                         return 1;
                     }
                     *comma = '\0';
-                    uchardet_weigh_language(handle, lang_weight, strtof (comma + 1, NULL));
+                    if (strcmp (lang_weight, "*") == 0)
+                        uchardet_set_default_weight(handle, strtof (comma + 1, NULL));
+                    else
+                        uchardet_weigh_language(handle, lang_weight, strtof (comma + 1, NULL));
                 }
                 while ((lang_weight = strtok_r (NULL, ",", &saveptr)));
             }