diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index 0910c46..42d6885 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -41,13 +41,13 @@ export async function generate({id, controller, seed} = {}) {
 export async function from(key) {
   let multikey = {...key};
   if(multikey.type && multikey.type !== 'Multikey') {
+    // attempt loading from JWK if `publicKeyJwk` is present
+    if(multikey.publicKeyJwk) {
+      return fromJwk({jwk: multikey.publicKeyJwk, secretKey: true});
+    }
     multikey = await toMultikey({keyPair: multikey});
     return _createKeyPairInterface({keyPair: multikey});
   }
-  // attempt loading from JWK if `publicKeyJwk` is present
-  if(multikey.publicKeyJwk) {
-    return fromJwk({jwk: multikey.publicKeyJwk, secretKey: true});
-  }
   if(!multikey.type) {
     multikey.type = 'Multikey';
   }