diff --git a/yt_dlp/downloader/external.py b/yt_dlp/downloader/external.py
index 3c0202f228..40b9dcfe30 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/downloader/external.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/downloader/external.py
@@ -115,55 +115,56 @@ class ExternalFD(FragmentFD):
 
         self._debug_cmd(cmd)
 
-        if 'fragments' in info_dict:
-            fragment_retries = self.params.get('fragment_retries', 0)
-            skip_unavailable_fragments = self.params.get('skip_unavailable_fragments', True)
-
-            count = 0
-            while count <= fragment_retries:
-                p = subprocess.Popen(
-                    cmd, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
-                _, stderr = process_communicate_or_kill(p)
-                if p.returncode == 0:
-                    break
-                # TODO: Decide whether to retry based on error code
-                # https://aria2.github.io/manual/en/html/aria2c.html#exit-status
-                self.to_stderr(stderr.decode('utf-8', 'replace'))
-                count += 1
-                if count <= fragment_retries:
-                    self.to_screen(
-                        '[%s] Got error. Retrying fragments (attempt %d of %s)...'
-                        % (self.get_basename(), count, self.format_retries(fragment_retries)))
-            if count > fragment_retries:
-                if not skip_unavailable_fragments:
-                    self.report_error('Giving up after %s fragment retries' % fragment_retries)
-                    return -1
-
-            decrypt_fragment = self.decrypter(info_dict)
-            dest, _ = sanitize_open(tmpfilename, 'wb')
-            for frag_index, fragment in enumerate(info_dict['fragments']):
-                fragment_filename = '%s-Frag%d' % (tmpfilename, frag_index)
-                try:
-                    src, _ = sanitize_open(fragment_filename, 'rb')
-                except IOError:
-                    if skip_unavailable_fragments and frag_index > 1:
-                        self.to_screen('[%s] Skipping fragment %d ...' % (self.get_basename(), frag_index))
-                        continue
-                    self.report_error('Unable to open fragment %d' % frag_index)
-                    return -1
-                dest.write(decrypt_fragment(fragment, src.read()))
-                src.close()
-                if not self.params.get('keep_fragments', False):
-                    os.remove(encodeFilename(fragment_filename))
-            dest.close()
-            os.remove(encodeFilename('%s.frag.urls' % tmpfilename))
-        else:
+        if 'fragments' not in info_dict:
             p = subprocess.Popen(
                 cmd, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
             _, stderr = process_communicate_or_kill(p)
             if p.returncode != 0:
                 self.to_stderr(stderr.decode('utf-8', 'replace'))
-        return p.returncode
+            return p.returncode
+
+        fragment_retries = self.params.get('fragment_retries', 0)
+        skip_unavailable_fragments = self.params.get('skip_unavailable_fragments', True)
+
+        count = 0
+        while count <= fragment_retries:
+            p = subprocess.Popen(
+                cmd, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+            _, stderr = process_communicate_or_kill(p)
+            if p.returncode == 0:
+                break
+            # TODO: Decide whether to retry based on error code
+            # https://aria2.github.io/manual/en/html/aria2c.html#exit-status
+            self.to_stderr(stderr.decode('utf-8', 'replace'))
+            count += 1
+            if count <= fragment_retries:
+                self.to_screen(
+                    '[%s] Got error. Retrying fragments (attempt %d of %s)...'
+                    % (self.get_basename(), count, self.format_retries(fragment_retries)))
+        if count > fragment_retries:
+            if not skip_unavailable_fragments:
+                self.report_error('Giving up after %s fragment retries' % fragment_retries)
+                return -1
+
+        decrypt_fragment = self.decrypter(info_dict)
+        dest, _ = sanitize_open(tmpfilename, 'wb')
+        for frag_index, fragment in enumerate(info_dict['fragments']):
+            fragment_filename = '%s-Frag%d' % (tmpfilename, frag_index)
+            try:
+                src, _ = sanitize_open(fragment_filename, 'rb')
+            except IOError:
+                if skip_unavailable_fragments and frag_index > 1:
+                    self.to_screen('[%s] Skipping fragment %d ...' % (self.get_basename(), frag_index))
+                    continue
+                self.report_error('Unable to open fragment %d' % frag_index)
+                return -1
+            dest.write(decrypt_fragment(fragment, src.read()))
+            src.close()
+            if not self.params.get('keep_fragments', False):
+                os.remove(encodeFilename(fragment_filename))
+        dest.close()
+        os.remove(encodeFilename('%s.frag.urls' % tmpfilename))
+        return 0
 
 
 class CurlFD(ExternalFD):