Does Escape Artist (Thief) always use agility for restraint checks or only if it's higher than strength?

[Ireyon]

I've experimented with my spellblade (thief/mage) hybrid lately. Since I wanted to build a high crit build I went Str/Cu/Will and sometimes drink at the bar to max out agility. I use the accuracy hat and the winged boots to somewhat compensate for the missing agility.

However, I noticed that I always fail ever restraint check against the tanuki witch in frostwood if the alcohol buff isn't active. So Escape Artist seems to always use agility to make the checks even if agility is lower than strength. Is this intentional?

 

[WolframL]

I mean, the Perk description says that you use Agility instead of Strength with no qualifier about 'if it's higher' so I'd assume the answer is 'yes'.