diff --git a/pixelocr/page.py b/pixelocr/page.py
index c0cd38b..5fafc7e 100644
--- a/pixelocr/page.py
+++ b/pixelocr/page.py
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ class Word(PageObject):
             return default
         for glyph_info in known_glyph_info:
             counts[language_map.get(glyph_info.text)] += 1
-        language, count = sorted(counts.items(), reverse=True)[0]
+        language = max(counts, key=lambda lang: counts[lang])
         return language
 
     def guess_bold(self, *args, **kwargs):