diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-pty-session-options.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-pty-session-options.ts
index aa7562b5944..34f9477cf91 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-pty-session-options.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-pty-session-options.ts
@@ -63,8 +63,9 @@ export function createNativeChatPtySessionOptions(
     return null
   }
   let models = [...(args.initialModels ?? catalog.models)]
-  // The enrichment cache only ever holds probe output, so being handed a list at all
-  // means `isDefault` below names the account's real default rather than the seed guess.
+  // The enrichment cache holds probe output plus consent-gated seed rows, which are stripped
+  // of `isDefault`, so being handed a list at all still means `isDefault` below names the
+  // account's real default rather than the seed guess.
   let modelsAreDiscovered = args.initialModels !== undefined
   let record =
     readNativeChatSessionOptionCache(args.scopeKey, args.fallbackScopeKey) ??
diff --git a/src/shared/agent-session-option-catalog.test.ts b/src/shared/agent-session-option-catalog.test.ts
index 8b89275fa6e..2a94cb05ad8 100644
--- a/src/shared/agent-session-option-catalog.test.ts
+++ b/src/shared/agent-session-option-catalog.test.ts
@@ -139,6 +139,19 @@ describe('agent session option catalog', () => {
     expect(merged.find(({ id }) => id === 'fable')?.options.map(({ id }) => id)).toEqual(['effort'])
   })
 
+  it('strips `isDefault` from a re-added gated row so it cannot pose as the probed default', () => {
+    const claude = getAgentSessionOptionCatalog('claude')!
+    const catalog = {
+      ...claude,
+      models: [{ id: 'fable', label: 'Fable', isDefault: true, options: [] }]
+    }
+    const merged = withConsentGatedSeedModels(catalog, [
+      { id: 'sonnet', label: 'Sonnet', options: [] }
+    ])
+    expect(merged.map(({ id }) => id)).toEqual(['fable', 'sonnet'])
+    expect(merged[0].isDefault).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+
   it('leaves a probe that already lists Fable untouched', () => {
     const catalog = getAgentSessionOptionCatalog('claude')!
     const discovered = [
diff --git a/src/shared/agent-session-option-catalog.ts b/src/shared/agent-session-option-catalog.ts
index 21ffe898b28..79681b221c1 100644
--- a/src/shared/agent-session-option-catalog.ts
+++ b/src/shared/agent-session-option-catalog.ts
@@ -85,7 +85,9 @@ export function withConsentGatedSeedModels(
   const missing = catalog.models.filter(
     (model) => gated.includes(model.id) && !discovered.some((live) => live.id === model.id)
   )
-  return [...missing, ...discovered]
+  // Why: consumers read `isDefault` on an enriched list as the probe's answer, and a row the
+  // probe never listed cannot name the account's default.
+  return [...missing.map(({ isDefault: _seeded, ...model }) => model), ...discovered]
 }
 
 /** Discovery decides membership; the seed keeps its option menus, which discovery never carries.