diff --git a/owrx/dsp.py b/owrx/dsp.py
index 3abe02a2..62d55178 100644
--- a/owrx/dsp.py
+++ b/owrx/dsp.py
@@ -650,13 +650,17 @@ class DspManager(SdrSourceEventClient, ClientDemodulatorSecondaryDspEventClient)
     def _unpickle(self, callback):
         def unpickler(data):
             b = data.tobytes()
+            # If we know it's not pickled, let us not unpickle
+            if len(b) < 2 or b[0] != 0x80 or not 3 <= b[1] <= pickle.HIGHEST_PROTOCOL:
+                callback(b.decode("ascii"))
+                return
+
             io = BytesIO(b)
             try:
                 while True:
                     callback(pickle.load(io))
             except EOFError:
                 pass
-            # TODO: this is not ideal. is there a way to know beforehand if the data will be pickled?
             except pickle.UnpicklingError:
                 callback(b.decode("ascii"))