diff --git a/matlab/TCV/gdat_tcv.m b/matlab/TCV/gdat_tcv.m
index 4680896b3ffed34a524be28c15d1f0e7d3cd711f..34f9896b8e20caefba1f98b6462c50921112499d 100644
--- a/matlab/TCV/gdat_tcv.m
+++ b/matlab/TCV/gdat_tcv.m
@@ -337,8 +337,9 @@ end
 % special treatment for model shot=-1 or preparation shot >=900'000
 begstr = '';
 if (iscell(mapping_for_tcv.expression) || isempty(strfind(mapping_for_tcv.expression,'\rtc::'))) && ...
-      ~isempty(shot) && (shot==-1 || (shot>=900000 && shot <= 999999 ) || liuqe_version==-1 )
-  % requires FBTE
+    ~isempty(shot) && (shot==-1 || (shot>=900000 && shot <= 999999 ) || liuqe_version==-1 ) &&  ...
+    isempty(findstr(mapping_for_tcv.expression,'tcv_eq'))
+  % requires FBTE (if tcv_eq in expression, liuqe target will be modified to FBTE below with regexprep)
   liuqe_version_eff = -1;
   begstr = 'tcv_eq( "';
   substr_liuqe = '", "FBTE" )';