diff --git a/frigate/config/config.py b/frigate/config/config.py
index db450ffcf3..04dd46a67a 100644
--- a/frigate/config/config.py
+++ b/frigate/config/config.py
@@ -80,12 +80,12 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 yaml = YAML()
 
-DEFAULT_DETECTORS = {
-    "ov": {
-        "type": "openvino",
-        "device": "CPU",
-    }
-}
+# Pydantic field default applied when an existing config omits `detectors:`.
+# Kept as cpu tflite for backwards compatibility with 0.17 configs.
+DEFAULT_DETECTORS = {"cpu": {"type": "cpu"}}
+
+# Used by the openvino branch below and rendered into the new-config YAML
+# template so first-time setups default to openvino on CPU.
 DEFAULT_MODEL = {
     "width": 300,
     "height": 300,
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL = {
     "path": "/openvino-model/ssdlite_mobilenet_v2.xml",
     "labelmap_path": "/openvino-model/coco_91cl_bkgr.txt",
 }
+NEW_CONFIG_DETECTORS = {"ov": {"type": "openvino", "device": "CPU"}}
 DEFAULT_DETECT_DIMENSIONS = {"width": 1280, "height": 720}
 
 
@@ -109,7 +110,7 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG = f"""
 mqtt:
   enabled: False
 
-{_render_default_yaml({"detectors": DEFAULT_DETECTORS, "model": DEFAULT_MODEL})}
+{_render_default_yaml({"detectors": NEW_CONFIG_DETECTORS, "model": DEFAULT_MODEL})}
 cameras: {{}}  # No cameras defined, UI wizard should be used
 version: {CURRENT_CONFIG_VERSION}
 """
@@ -708,14 +709,6 @@ class FrigateConfig(FrigateBaseModel):
             detector_config.model = model
             self.detectors[key] = detector_config
 
-        # If the top-level model is unset, adopt the first detector's resolved
-        # model so worker processes (which receive self.model) agree with the
-        # dimensions used to size the detection shared memory in start_detectors.
-        if not self.model.model_dump(exclude_unset=True, warnings="none") and self.detectors:
-            first_detector = next(iter(self.detectors.values()))
-            if first_detector.model is not None:
-                self.model = first_detector.model
-
         for name, camera in self.cameras.items():
             modified_global_config = global_config.copy()
 
diff --git a/frigate/test/test_config.py b/frigate/test/test_config.py
index 1469924b9c..48553465d3 100644
--- a/frigate/test/test_config.py
+++ b/frigate/test/test_config.py
@@ -64,9 +64,9 @@ class TestConfig(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_config_class(self):
         frigate_config = FrigateConfig(**self.minimal)
-        assert "ov" in frigate_config.detectors.keys()
-        assert frigate_config.detectors["ov"].type == DetectorTypeEnum.openvino
-        assert frigate_config.detectors["ov"].model.width == 300
+        assert "cpu" in frigate_config.detectors.keys()
+        assert frigate_config.detectors["cpu"].type == DetectorTypeEnum.cpu
+        assert frigate_config.detectors["cpu"].model.width == 320
 
     @patch("frigate.detectors.detector_config.load_labels")
     def test_detector_custom_model_path(self, mock_labels):
@@ -964,11 +964,8 @@ class TestConfig(unittest.TestCase):
             },
         }
 
-        # With no model defined, the top-level model adopts the default
-        # detector's resolved model (openvino + ssdlite_mobilenet_v2 with the
-        # coco_91cl_bkgr labelmap, which has __background__ at index 0).
         frigate_config = FrigateConfig(**config)
-        assert frigate_config.model.merged_labelmap[1] == "person"
+        assert frigate_config.model.merged_labelmap[0] == "person"
 
     def test_default_labelmap(self):
         config = {