diff --git a/src/providers/ClaudeDevProvider.ts b/src/providers/ClaudeDevProvider.ts
index e102eb6..c2f3ebb 100644
--- a/src/providers/ClaudeDevProvider.ts
+++ b/src/providers/ClaudeDevProvider.ts
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ export class ClaudeDevProvider implements vscode.WebviewViewProvider {
 
 	async getState() {
 		const [
-			apiProvider,
+			storedApiProvider,
 			apiModelId,
 			apiKey,
 			openRouterApiKey,
@@ -447,9 +447,24 @@ export class ClaudeDevProvider implements vscode.WebviewViewProvider {
 			this.getGlobalState("lastShownAnnouncementId") as Promise<string | undefined>,
 			this.getGlobalState("customInstructions") as Promise<string | undefined>,
 		])
+
+		let apiProvider: ApiProvider
+		if (storedApiProvider) {
+			apiProvider = storedApiProvider
+		} else {
+			// Either new user or legacy user that doesn't have the apiProvider stored in state
+			// (If they're using OpenRouter or Bedrock, then apiProvider state will exist)
+			if (apiKey) {
+				apiProvider = "anthropic"
+			} else {
+				// New users should default to openrouter
+				apiProvider = "openrouter"
+			}
+		}
+
 		return {
 			apiConfiguration: {
-				apiProvider: apiProvider || "anthropic", // for legacy users that were using Anthropic by default
+				apiProvider,
 				apiModelId,
 				apiKey,
 				openRouterApiKey,
diff --git a/webview-ui/src/components/WelcomeView.tsx b/webview-ui/src/components/WelcomeView.tsx
index e6852ea..2b91f2e 100644
--- a/webview-ui/src/components/WelcomeView.tsx
+++ b/webview-ui/src/components/WelcomeView.tsx
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
-import { ApiConfiguration } from "../../../src/shared/api"
 import { VSCodeButton, VSCodeLink } from "@vscode/webview-ui-toolkit/react"
 import React, { useEffect, useState } from "react"
+import { ApiConfiguration } from "../../../src/shared/api"
 import { validateApiConfiguration } from "../utils/validate"
 import { vscode } from "../utils/vscode"
 import ApiOptions from "./ApiOptions"
-import { useEffectOnce } from "react-use"
 
 interface WelcomeViewProps {
 	apiConfiguration?: ApiConfiguration
@@ -24,13 +23,6 @@ const WelcomeView: React.FC<WelcomeViewProps> = ({ apiConfiguration, setApiConfi
 		setApiErrorMessage(validateApiConfiguration(apiConfiguration))
 	}, [apiConfiguration])
 
-	useEffectOnce(() => {
-		setApiConfiguration((prevConfig) => ({
-			...prevConfig,
-			apiProvider: "openrouter",
-		}))
-	})
-
 	return (
 		<div style={{ position: "fixed", top: 0, left: 0, right: 0, bottom: 0, padding: "0 20px" }}>
 			<h2>Hi, I'm Claude Dev</h2>