diff --git a/tubesync/sync/youtube.py b/tubesync/sync/youtube.py
index d33de76c..11eb418f 100644
--- a/tubesync/sync/youtube.py
+++ b/tubesync/sync/youtube.py
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ def download_media(
         'writesubtitles': write_subtitles,
         'writeautomaticsub': auto_subtitles,
         'subtitleslangs': sub_langs.split(','),
-        'writethumbnail': True,
+        'writethumbnail': embed_thumbnail,
         'check_formats': False,
         'overwrites': None,
         'sleep_interval': 10 + int(settings.DOWNLOAD_MEDIA_DELAY / 20),