diff --git a/plugins/arguments/term.inc b/plugins/arguments/term.inc
index 65c87ac..172812f 100644
--- a/plugins/arguments/term.inc
+++ b/plugins/arguments/term.inc
@@ -56,11 +56,15 @@ function ctools_term_context($arg = NULL, $conf = NULL, $empty = FALSE) {
         break;
 
       case 'term':
-        if (!empty($conf['transform'])) {
+        // First try to load terms with the original argument.
+        $terms = taxonomy_get_term_by_name($arg);
+        // If no terms could be loaded and dashes should be transformed then we
+        // try again with that.
+        if (!empty($conf['transform']) && empty($terms)) {
           $arg = strtr($arg, '-', ' ');
+          $terms = taxonomy_get_term_by_name($arg);
         }
 
-        $terms = taxonomy_get_term_by_name($arg);
         // If only one term is found, fall through to vocabulary check below.
         if ((count($terms) > 1) && $vocabularies) {
           foreach ($terms as $potential) {