diff --git a/whisperlivekit/simul_whisper/backend.py b/whisperlivekit/simul_whisper/backend.py
index e816ed8..9b3368b 100644
--- a/whisperlivekit/simul_whisper/backend.py
+++ b/whisperlivekit/simul_whisper/backend.py
@@ -210,11 +210,15 @@ class SimulStreamingASR():
         else:
             self.tokenizer = None
         
-        self.model_name = os.path.basename(self.cfg.model_path).replace(".pt", "")
-        self.model_path = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(self.cfg.model_path))
+        if model_dir:
+            self.model_name = model_dir
+            self.model_path = None
+        else:
+            self.model_name = os.path.basename(self.cfg.model_path).replace(".pt", "")
+            self.model_path = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(self.cfg.model_path))
     
         self.mlx_encoder, self.fw_encoder = None, None
-        if not self.disable_fast_encoder:
+        if not self.disable_fast_encoder and not model_dir:
             if HAS_MLX_WHISPER:
                 print('Simulstreaming will use MLX whisper for a faster encoder.')
                 mlx_model_name = mlx_model_mapping[self.model_name]