diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index 050ed26..ffd0ab2 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name = "OndaEDF"
 uuid = "e3ed2cd1-99bf-415e-bb8f-38f4b42a544e"
 authors = ["Beacon Biosignals, Inc."]
-version = "0.11.6"
+version = "0.11.7"
 
 [deps]
 Compat = "34da2185-b29b-5c13-b0c7-acf172513d20"
diff --git a/src/import_edf.jl b/src/import_edf.jl
index b097090..eb7dce9 100644
--- a/src/import_edf.jl
+++ b/src/import_edf.jl
@@ -360,6 +360,15 @@ function plan_edf_to_onda_samples(header,
     row = (; header..., seconds_per_record, error=nothing)
 
     try
+        # match physical units and encoding first so that we give users better
+        # feedback about _which_ thing (labels vs. units) didn't match.
+        #
+        # still do it in the try/catch in case edf_to_onda_unit or
+        # edf_signal_encoding throws an error
+        row = rowmerge(row;
+                       sample_unit=edf_to_onda_unit(header.physical_dimension, units),
+                       edf_signal_encoding(header, seconds_per_record)...)
+
         edf_label = header.label
         for (signal_names, channel_names) in labels
             # channel names is iterable of channel specs, which are either "channel"
@@ -374,9 +383,7 @@ function plan_edf_to_onda_samples(header,
                     row = rowmerge(row; 
                                    channel=matched,
                                    sensor_type=first(signal_names),
-                                   sensor_label=first(signal_names),
-                                   sample_unit=edf_to_onda_unit(header.physical_dimension, units),
-                                   edf_signal_encoding(header, seconds_per_record)...)
+                                   sensor_label=first(signal_names))
                     return PlanV2(row)
                 end
             end
diff --git a/test/import.jl b/test/import.jl
index 610e6b8..6c61c66 100644
--- a/test/import.jl
+++ b/test/import.jl
@@ -255,6 +255,40 @@ using StableRNGs
         @test isempty(bad_samples)
     end
 
+    @testset "units labels and encoding matched independently" begin
+        n_records = 100
+        edf, edf_channel_indices = make_test_data(StableRNG(42), 256, 512, n_records, Int16)
+
+        signal = edf.signals[1]
+        header = signal.header
+
+        plan = plan_edf_to_onda_samples(header, edf.header.seconds_per_record)
+        no_label = plan_edf_to_onda_samples(header, edf.header.seconds_per_record;
+                                            labels=Dict())
+        no_units = plan_edf_to_onda_samples(header, edf.header.seconds_per_record;
+                                            units=Dict())
+        no_both = plan_edf_to_onda_samples(header, edf.header.seconds_per_record;
+                                           units=Dict(), labels=Dict())
+
+        @test ismissing(no_label.channel)
+        @test ismissing(no_label.sensor_type)
+        @test no_label.sample_unit == plan.sample_unit
+        @test no_label.sample_resolution_in_unit == plan.sample_resolution_in_unit
+        @test no_label.sample_offset_in_unit == plan.sample_offset_in_unit
+
+        @test no_units.channel == plan.channel
+        @test no_units.sensor_type == plan.sensor_type
+        @test ismissing(no_units.sample_unit)
+        @test no_units.sample_resolution_in_unit == plan.sample_resolution_in_unit
+        @test no_units.sample_offset_in_unit == plan.sample_offset_in_unit
+
+        @test ismissing(no_both.channel)
+        @test ismissing(no_both.sensor_type)
+        @test ismissing(no_both.sample_unit)
+        @test no_both.sample_resolution_in_unit == plan.sample_resolution_in_unit
+        @test no_both.sample_offset_in_unit == plan.sample_offset_in_unit
+    end
+
     @testset "de/serialization of plans" begin
         edf, _ = make_test_data(StableRNG(42), 256, 512, 100, Int16)
         plan = plan_edf_to_onda_samples(edf)