diff --git a/api/controllers/console/workspace/plugin.py b/api/controllers/console/workspace/plugin.py
index 33a4f54e69b..98eb1192027 100644
--- a/api/controllers/console/workspace/plugin.py
+++ b/api/controllers/console/workspace/plugin.py
@@ -442,12 +442,10 @@ register_enum_models(
 )
 
 
-def _default_auto_upgrade_settings(
-    tenant_id: str,
-    category: TenantPluginAutoUpgradeCategory,
-) -> AutoUpgradeSettingsResponse:
+def _missing_auto_upgrade_settings(tenant_id: str) -> AutoUpgradeSettingsResponse:
+    """Represent a missing persisted strategy as effectively disabled."""
     return {
-        "strategy_setting": PluginAutoUpgradeService.default_strategy_setting_for_category(category),
+        "strategy_setting": TenantPluginAutoUpgradeStrategySetting.DISABLED,
         "upgrade_time_of_day": PluginAutoUpgradeService.default_upgrade_time_of_day(tenant_id),
         "upgrade_mode": TenantPluginAutoUpgradeMode.EXCLUDE,
         "exclude_plugins": [],
@@ -1135,9 +1133,7 @@ class PluginFetchAutoUpgradeApi(Resource):
         args = ParserAutoUpgradeFetch.model_validate(request.args.to_dict(flat=True))
         auto_upgrade = PluginAutoUpgradeService.get_strategy(tenant_id, args.category, session=db.session())
         auto_upgrade_dict = (
-            _auto_upgrade_settings_to_dict(auto_upgrade)
-            if auto_upgrade
-            else _default_auto_upgrade_settings(tenant_id, args.category)
+            _auto_upgrade_settings_to_dict(auto_upgrade) if auto_upgrade else _missing_auto_upgrade_settings(tenant_id)
         )
 
         return jsonable_encoder(
diff --git a/api/tests/unit_tests/controllers/console/workspace/test_plugin.py b/api/tests/unit_tests/controllers/console/workspace/test_plugin.py
index 889b4cb6c1a..0cb336cfea8 100644
--- a/api/tests/unit_tests/controllers/console/workspace/test_plugin.py
+++ b/api/tests/unit_tests/controllers/console/workspace/test_plugin.py
@@ -1343,6 +1343,34 @@ class TestPluginFetchAutoUpgradeApi:
         assert result["category"] == TenantPluginAutoUpgradeCategory.TOOL
         assert result["auto_upgrade"]["upgrade_time_of_day"] == 1
 
+    def test_returns_disabled_settings_when_strategy_is_missing(self, app: Flask):
+        api = PluginFetchAutoUpgradeApi()
+        method = unwrap(api.get)
+
+        with (
+            app.test_request_context(f"/?category={TenantPluginAutoUpgradeCategory.MODEL.value}"),
+            patch(
+                "controllers.console.workspace.plugin.PluginAutoUpgradeService.get_strategy",
+                return_value=None,
+            ),
+            patch(
+                "controllers.console.workspace.plugin.PluginAutoUpgradeService.default_upgrade_time_of_day",
+                return_value=78300,
+            ),
+        ):
+            result = method(api, "t1")
+
+        assert result == {
+            "category": TenantPluginAutoUpgradeCategory.MODEL,
+            "auto_upgrade": {
+                "strategy_setting": TenantPluginAutoUpgradeStrategySetting.DISABLED,
+                "upgrade_time_of_day": 78300,
+                "upgrade_mode": TenantPluginAutoUpgradeMode.EXCLUDE,
+                "exclude_plugins": [],
+                "include_plugins": [],
+            },
+        }
+
 
 class TestPluginAutoUpgradeExcludePluginApi:
     def test_success(self, app: Flask):