diff --git a/rslib/src/notes/mod.rs b/rslib/src/notes/mod.rs
index d1ddffbf6..1b5b9c52a 100644
--- a/rslib/src/notes/mod.rs
+++ b/rslib/src/notes/mod.rs
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@ impl Collection {
     /// notetypes, check if there is a cloze in a non-cloze field or if there's
     /// no cloze at all. For other notetypes, just check if there's a cloze.
     pub(crate) fn note_fields_check(&mut self, note: &Note) -> Result<NoteFieldsState> {
-        if let Some(text) = note.fields.get(0) {
+        Ok(if let Some(text) = note.fields.get(0) {
             let field1 = if self.get_config_bool(BoolKey::NormalizeNoteText) {
                 normalize_to_nfc(text)
             } else {
@@ -542,15 +542,20 @@ impl Collection {
             };
             let stripped = strip_html_preserving_media_filenames(&field1);
             if stripped.trim().is_empty() {
-                Ok(NoteFieldsState::Empty)
-            } else if self.is_duplicate(&stripped, note)? {
-                Ok(NoteFieldsState::Duplicate)
+                NoteFieldsState::Empty
             } else {
-                self.field_cloze_check(note)
+                let cloze_state = self.field_cloze_check(note)?;
+                if cloze_state != NoteFieldsState::Normal {
+                    cloze_state
+                } else if self.is_duplicate(&stripped, note)? {
+                    NoteFieldsState::Duplicate
+                } else {
+                    NoteFieldsState::Normal
+                }
             }
         } else {
-            Ok(NoteFieldsState::Empty)
-        }
+            NoteFieldsState::Empty
+        })
     }
 
     fn is_duplicate(&self, first_field: &str, note: &Note) -> Result<bool> {