diff --git a/csst_common/data_manager.py b/csst_common/data_manager.py
index b1052139b5b6196bc55ae6000f1fc43d538e183f..51ecc456c1e5fe81d4728ecf683b2bb786fe5515 100644
--- a/csst_common/data_manager.py
+++ b/csst_common/data_manager.py
@@ -232,11 +232,14 @@ class CsstMbiDataManager:
             try:
                 # assert detectors is a subset of available detectors
                 assert set(detectors).issubset(set(self.available_detectors))
+                self.target_detectors = list(detectors)
             except AssertionError as ae:
-                print("@DM: available detector IDs are ", self.available_detectors)
-                print("@DM: target detector IDs are ", detectors)
+                print("@DM: available detector are ", self.available_detectors)
+                print("@DM: target detector are ", detectors)
+
+                print("@DM: final target detectors are ", set(detectors) & set(self.available_detectors))
                 # raise ae
-            self.target_detectors = detectors
+                self.target_detectors = set(detectors) & set(self.available_detectors)
         print("final target detector IDs are ", self.target_detectors)
         return