diff --git a/internal/action/command.go b/internal/action/command.go
index 4dec9ee8..389c047d 100644
--- a/internal/action/command.go
+++ b/internal/action/command.go
@@ -408,15 +408,7 @@ func reloadRuntime(reloadPlugins bool) {
 		screen.TermMessage(err)
 	}
 	for _, b := range buffer.OpenBuffers {
-		config.InitLocalSettings(b.Settings, b.Path)
-		for k, v := range b.Settings {
-			if _, ok := b.LocalSettings[k]; ok {
-				// reload should not override local settings
-				continue
-			}
-			b.DoSetOptionNative(k, v)
-		}
-		b.UpdateRules()
+		b.ReloadSettings(true)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/buffer/settings.go b/internal/buffer/settings.go
index 9fc1cfd8..838df4a5 100644
--- a/internal/buffer/settings.go
+++ b/internal/buffer/settings.go
@@ -8,6 +8,43 @@ import (
 	"github.com/zyedidia/micro/v2/internal/screen"
 )
 
+func (b *Buffer) ReloadSettings(reloadFiletype bool) {
+	settings := config.ParsedSettings()
+
+	if _, ok := b.LocalSettings["filetype"]; !ok && reloadFiletype {
+		// need to update filetype before updating other settings based on it
+		b.Settings["filetype"] = "unknown"
+		if v, ok := settings["filetype"]; ok {
+			b.Settings["filetype"] = v
+		}
+	}
+
+	// update syntax rules, which will also update filetype if needed
+	b.UpdateRules()
+	settings["filetype"] = b.Settings["filetype"]
+
+	config.InitLocalSettings(settings, b.Path)
+	for k, v := range config.DefaultCommonSettings() {
+		if k == "filetype" {
+			// prevent recursion
+			continue
+		}
+		if _, ok := config.VolatileSettings[k]; ok {
+			// reload should not override volatile settings
+			continue
+		}
+		if _, ok := b.LocalSettings[k]; ok {
+			// reload should not override local settings
+			continue
+		}
+		if _, ok := settings[k]; ok {
+			b.DoSetOptionNative(k, settings[k])
+		} else {
+			b.DoSetOptionNative(k, v)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func (b *Buffer) DoSetOptionNative(option string, nativeValue interface{}) {
 	if reflect.DeepEqual(b.Settings[option], nativeValue) {
 		return
@@ -31,28 +68,7 @@ func (b *Buffer) DoSetOptionNative(option string, nativeValue interface{}) {
 	} else if option == "statusline" {
 		screen.Redraw()
 	} else if option == "filetype" {
-		settings := config.ParsedSettings()
-		settings["filetype"] = nativeValue
-		config.InitLocalSettings(settings, b.Path)
-		for k, v := range config.DefaultCommonSettings() {
-			if k == "filetype" {
-				continue
-			}
-			if _, ok := config.VolatileSettings[k]; ok {
-				// filetype should not override volatile settings
-				continue
-			}
-			if _, ok := b.LocalSettings[k]; ok {
-				// filetype should not override local settings
-				continue
-			}
-			if _, ok := settings[k]; ok {
-				b.DoSetOptionNative(k, settings[k])
-			} else {
-				b.DoSetOptionNative(k, v)
-			}
-		}
-		b.UpdateRules()
+		b.ReloadSettings(false)
 	} else if option == "fileformat" {
 		switch b.Settings["fileformat"].(string) {
 		case "unix":