diff --git a/yt_dlp/extractor/playsuisse.py b/yt_dlp/extractor/playsuisse.py
index 3e76602e19..8ebb418362 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/extractor/playsuisse.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/extractor/playsuisse.py
@@ -238,7 +238,8 @@ class PlaySuisseIE(InfoExtractor):
                 'query': self._GRAPHQL_QUERY,
                 'variables': {'assetId': media_id},
             }).encode(),
-            headers={'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'locale': locale})
+            headers={'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'locale': locale or 'de'})
+
         return response['data']['assetV2']
 
     def _real_extract(self, url):