diff --git a/yt_downloader/cli.py b/yt_downloader/cli.py
index a800bae..c5f8ac9 100644
--- a/yt_downloader/cli.py
+++ b/yt_downloader/cli.py
@@ -37,10 +37,12 @@ def cmd_init(args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
 
 def _download_argv(args: argparse.Namespace) -> list[str]:
     """Rebuild the `download` argv for the VPN-wrapped subprocess."""
-    argv = ["download"]
+    argv = []
     if getattr(args, "config", None):
+        # --config is a parent/global option and must come before the
+        # subcommand, or argparse treats it as unrecognized
         argv += ["--config", str(args.config)]
-    argv += [args.url]
+    argv += ["download", args.url]
     if getattr(args, "quality", None):
         argv += ["--quality", args.quality]
     if getattr(args, "format", None):