diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/terminal/browser/terminalProfileService.ts b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/terminal/browser/terminalProfileService.ts
index c0cf25a0403c4..b88221b2876f3 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/terminal/browser/terminalProfileService.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/terminal/browser/terminalProfileService.ts
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ export class TerminalProfileService implements ITerminalProfileService {
 			return this._availableProfiles || [];
 		}
 		const platform = await this._getPlatformKey();
-		this._defaultProfileName = this._configurationService.getValue(`${TerminalSettingPrefix.DefaultProfile}${platform}`);
+		this._defaultProfileName = this._configurationService.getValue(`${TerminalSettingPrefix.DefaultProfile}${platform}`) ?? undefined;
 		return this._primaryOffProcessTerminalService?.getProfiles(this._configurationService.getValue(`${TerminalSettingPrefix.Profiles}${platform}`), this._defaultProfileName, includeDetectedProfiles);
 	}