diff --git a/desktop/src/features/onboarding/ui/DefaultConfigStep.tsx b/desktop/src/features/onboarding/ui/DefaultConfigStep.tsx
index a518125528..4c8061675f 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/onboarding/ui/DefaultConfigStep.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/onboarding/ui/DefaultConfigStep.tsx
@@ -531,15 +531,20 @@ export function DefaultConfigStep({
     () => getVisibleOnboardingRuntimes(runtimesQuery.data ?? []),
     [runtimesQuery.data],
   );
-  const selectedRuntime = visibleRuntimes.find(
-    (runtime) => runtime.id === selectedRuntimeId,
-  );
-  const { data: runtimeFileConfig, isLoading: runtimeFileConfigLoading } =
-    useRuntimeFileConfigQuery(selectedRuntimeId ?? "", {
-      enabled: Boolean(selectedRuntimeId),
-    });
   const [config, setConfig] =
     React.useState<GlobalAgentConfig>(EMPTY_GLOBAL_CONFIG);
+  // Reopening machine config from the first-community flow starts directly on
+  // this page, without a chooser draft. Fall back to the persisted default so
+  // the same selected-harness setup renders instead of a missing-runtime state.
+  const effectiveSelectedRuntimeId =
+    selectedRuntimeId ?? config.preferred_runtime;
+  const selectedRuntime = visibleRuntimes.find(
+    (runtime) => runtime.id === effectiveSelectedRuntimeId,
+  );
+  const { data: runtimeFileConfig, isLoading: runtimeFileConfigLoading } =
+    useRuntimeFileConfigQuery(effectiveSelectedRuntimeId ?? "", {
+      enabled: Boolean(effectiveSelectedRuntimeId),
+    });
   const [bakedEnv, setBakedEnv] = React.useState<BakedEnvEntry[]>([]);
   const [isConfigLoading, setIsConfigLoading] = React.useState(true);
   const [configValid, setConfigValid] = React.useState(false);
@@ -643,20 +648,20 @@ export function DefaultConfigStep({
   }, [installMutation, runtimesQuery, selectedRuntime]);
 
   const handleComplete = React.useCallback(async () => {
-    if (!selectedRuntimeId) return;
+    if (!effectiveSelectedRuntimeId) return;
     setIsCompleting(true);
     setCompletionError(null);
     try {
       await setGlobalAgentConfig({
         ...config,
-        preferred_runtime: selectedRuntimeId,
+        preferred_runtime: effectiveSelectedRuntimeId,
       });
       actions.complete();
     } catch {
       setCompletionError("Couldn't save your default harness. Try again.");
       setIsCompleting(false);
     }
-  }, [actions, config, selectedRuntimeId]);
+  }, [actions, config, effectiveSelectedRuntimeId]);
 
   return (
     <OnboardingSlideTransition
diff --git a/desktop/tests/e2e/harness-management.spec.ts b/desktop/tests/e2e/harness-management.spec.ts
index 50047f8f81..6ef196706a 100644
--- a/desktop/tests/e2e/harness-management.spec.ts
+++ b/desktop/tests/e2e/harness-management.spec.ts
@@ -677,7 +677,7 @@ test("onboarding setup More-harnesses click navigates to Settings → Agents", a
 
   // Now on the setup page.
   await expect(
-    page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Set up your agent harnesses" }),
+    page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Choose your default harness" }),
   ).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
 
   // Click the "More harnesses" link — fires navigateToAgentSettings.
diff --git a/desktop/tests/e2e/onboarding.spec.ts b/desktop/tests/e2e/onboarding.spec.ts
index 0c4d630994..8ae48197e8 100644
--- a/desktop/tests/e2e/onboarding.spec.ts
+++ b/desktop/tests/e2e/onboarding.spec.ts
@@ -1177,6 +1177,12 @@ test("first-community shows the scenario cards for localhost", async ({
   await installMockBridge(
     page,
     {
+      globalAgentConfig: {
+        env_vars: {},
+        provider: null,
+        model: null,
+        preferred_runtime: "claude",
+      },
       acpRuntimesCatalog: [
         {
           id: "claude",
@@ -1220,13 +1226,9 @@ test("first-community shows the scenario cards for localhost", async ({
   await page.getByTestId("welcome-setup-back").click();
   await expect(page.getByTestId("onboarding-page-config")).toBeVisible();
   await expect(
-    page.getByRole("heading", {
-      name: "Configure your default model settings",
-    }),
+    page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Set up Claude Code" }),
   ).toBeVisible();
-  await expect(page.getByTestId("global-agent-default-harness")).toHaveText(
-    "Claude Code",
-  );
+  await expect(page.getByText(/Claude Code is ready/i)).toBeVisible();
   await expect(page.getByTestId("onboarding-finish")).toBeEnabled();
 });