diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index bc61833ca..92177924b 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -218,12 +218,12 @@ if (LLAMA_METAL)
             OUTPUT ${METALLIB_EMBED_ASM}
             COMMAND echo "Embedding Metal library"
             COMMAND sed -e '/\#include \"ggml-common.h\"/r ${METALLIB_COMMON}' -e '/\#include \"ggml-common.h\"/d' < ${METALLIB_SOURCE} > ${METALLIB_SOURCE_EMBED}
-            COMMAND echo ".section __DATA,__ggml_metallib"        >  ${METALLIB_EMBED_ASM}
-            COMMAND echo ".globl _ggml_metallib_start"            >> ${METALLIB_EMBED_ASM}
-            COMMAND echo "_ggml_metallib_start:"                  >> ${METALLIB_EMBED_ASM}
-            COMMAND echo ".incbin \\\"ggml-metal-embed.metal\\\"" >> ${METALLIB_EMBED_ASM}
-            COMMAND echo ".globl _ggml_metallib_end"              >> ${METALLIB_EMBED_ASM}
-            COMMAND echo "_ggml_metallib_end:"                    >> ${METALLIB_EMBED_ASM}
+            COMMAND echo ".section __DATA,__ggml_metallib"          >  ${METALLIB_EMBED_ASM}
+            COMMAND echo ".globl _ggml_metallib_start"              >> ${METALLIB_EMBED_ASM}
+            COMMAND echo "_ggml_metallib_start:"                    >> ${METALLIB_EMBED_ASM}
+            COMMAND echo ".incbin \\\"${METALLIB_SOURCE_EMBED}\\\"" >> ${METALLIB_EMBED_ASM}
+            COMMAND echo ".globl _ggml_metallib_end"                >> ${METALLIB_EMBED_ASM}
+            COMMAND echo "_ggml_metallib_end:"                      >> ${METALLIB_EMBED_ASM}
             DEPENDS ggml-metal.metal ggml-common.h
             COMMENT "Generate assembly for embedded Metal library"
         )
diff --git a/ggml-metal.m b/ggml-metal.m
index 1825d3320..d90d687ff 100644
--- a/ggml-metal.m
+++ b/ggml-metal.m
@@ -280,6 +280,11 @@ static struct ggml_metal_context * ggml_metal_init(int n_cb) {
     id<MTLLibrary> metal_library;
 
     // load library
+    //
+    // - first check if the library is embedded
+    // - then check if the library is in the bundle
+    // - if not found, load the source and compile it
+    // - if that fails, return NULL
     {
         NSBundle * bundle = nil;
 #ifdef SWIFT_PACKAGE
@@ -287,49 +292,56 @@ static struct ggml_metal_context * ggml_metal_init(int n_cb) {
 #else
         bundle = [NSBundle bundleForClass:[GGMLMetalClass class]];
 #endif
+
+        NSString * src = nil;
         NSError * error = nil;
+
+#if GGML_METAL_EMBED_LIBRARY
+        GGML_METAL_LOG_INFO("%s: using embedded metal library\n", __func__);
+
+        extern const char ggml_metallib_start[];
+        extern const char ggml_metallib_end[];
+
+        src = [[NSString alloc] initWithBytes:ggml_metallib_start length:(ggml_metallib_end-ggml_metallib_start) encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
+#endif
+
         NSString * libPath = [bundle pathForResource:@"default" ofType:@"metallib"];
-        if (libPath != nil) {
+        if (src == nil && libPath != nil) {
             // pre-compiled library found
             NSURL * libURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:libPath];
             GGML_METAL_LOG_INFO("%s: loading '%s'\n", __func__, [libPath UTF8String]);
+
             metal_library = [ctx->device newLibraryWithURL:libURL error:&error];
             if (error) {
                 GGML_METAL_LOG_ERROR("%s: error: %s\n", __func__, [[error description] UTF8String]);
                 return NULL;
             }
         } else {
-#if GGML_METAL_EMBED_LIBRARY
-            GGML_METAL_LOG_INFO("%s: using embedded metal library\n", __func__);
-
-            extern const char ggml_metallib_start[];
-            extern const char ggml_metallib_end[];
-
-            NSString * src  = [[NSString alloc] initWithBytes:ggml_metallib_start length:(ggml_metallib_end-ggml_metallib_start) encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
-#else
             GGML_METAL_LOG_INFO("%s: default.metallib not found, loading from source\n", __func__);
 
-            NSString * sourcePath;
-            NSString * ggmlMetalPathResources = [[NSProcessInfo processInfo].environment objectForKey:@"GGML_METAL_PATH_RESOURCES"];
+            NSString * path_source;
+            NSString * path_resource = [[NSProcessInfo processInfo].environment objectForKey:@"GGML_METAL_PATH_RESOURCES"];
 
-            GGML_METAL_LOG_INFO("%s: GGML_METAL_PATH_RESOURCES = %s\n", __func__, ggmlMetalPathResources ? [ggmlMetalPathResources UTF8String] : "nil");
+            GGML_METAL_LOG_INFO("%s: GGML_METAL_PATH_RESOURCES = %s\n", __func__, path_resource ? [path_resource UTF8String] : "nil");
 
-            if (ggmlMetalPathResources) {
-                sourcePath = [ggmlMetalPathResources stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"ggml-metal.metal"];
+            if (path_resource) {
+                path_source = [path_resource stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"ggml-metal.metal"];
             } else {
-                sourcePath = [bundle pathForResource:@"ggml-metal" ofType:@"metal"];
+                path_source = [bundle pathForResource:@"ggml-metal" ofType:@"metal"];
             }
-            if (sourcePath == nil) {
+
+            if (path_source == nil) {
                 GGML_METAL_LOG_WARN("%s: error: could not use bundle path to find ggml-metal.metal, falling back to trying cwd\n", __func__);
-                sourcePath = @"ggml-metal.metal";
+                path_source = @"ggml-metal.metal";
             }
-            GGML_METAL_LOG_INFO("%s: loading '%s'\n", __func__, [sourcePath UTF8String]);
-            NSString * src = [NSString stringWithContentsOfFile:sourcePath encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding error:&error];
+
+            GGML_METAL_LOG_INFO("%s: loading '%s'\n", __func__, [path_source UTF8String]);
+
+            src = [NSString stringWithContentsOfFile:path_source encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding error:&error];
             if (error) {
                 GGML_METAL_LOG_ERROR("%s: error: %s\n", __func__, [[error description] UTF8String]);
                 return NULL;
             }
-#endif
 
             @autoreleasepool {
                 // dictionary of preprocessor macros