diff --git a/aredis_om/connections.py b/aredis_om/connections.py
index 37265a0..a8e693e 100644
--- a/aredis_om/connections.py
+++ b/aredis_om/connections.py
@@ -7,13 +7,14 @@ URL = os.environ.get("REDIS_OM_URL", None)
 
 
 def get_redis_connection(**kwargs) -> redis.Redis:
+    # Decode from UTF-8 by default
+    if "decode_responses" not in kwargs:
+        kwargs["decode_responses"] = True
+
     # If someone passed in a 'url' parameter, or specified a REDIS_OM_URL
     # environment variable, we'll create the Redis client from the URL.
     url = kwargs.pop("url", URL)
     if url:
         return redis.Redis.from_url(url, **kwargs)
 
-    # Decode from UTF-8 by default
-    if "decode_responses" not in kwargs:
-        kwargs["decode_responses"] = True
     return redis.Redis(**kwargs)