diff --git a/apps/app/src/main.rs b/apps/app/src/main.rs
index cfd1486..4f0be0e 100644
--- a/apps/app/src/main.rs
+++ b/apps/app/src/main.rs
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ fn get_launcher_root_dir() -> api::Result<String> {
 fn get_update_channel(app: tauri::AppHandle) -> api::Result<String> {
     let channel = read_update_channel_state(&app)?
         .active_channel
-        .unwrap_or_else(|| "release".to_string());
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| theseus::default_update_channel().to_string());
 
     match channel.as_str() {
         "release" | "beta" => Ok(channel),
diff --git a/packages/app-lib/src/lib.rs b/packages/app-lib/src/lib.rs
index b557d3b..7c9da96 100644
--- a/packages/app-lib/src/lib.rs
+++ b/packages/app-lib/src/lib.rs
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ pub use logger::start_logger;
 pub use state::db::{
     backup_current_app_db_for_update, beta_database_exists,
     copy_database_between_channels, copy_release_database_to_beta,
-    current_app_database_path,
+    current_app_database_path, default_update_channel,
 };
 pub use state::{DirectoryInfo, State};
 pub use storage::*;
diff --git a/packages/app-lib/src/state/db.rs b/packages/app-lib/src/state/db.rs
index 99a68c4..df63910 100644
--- a/packages/app-lib/src/state/db.rs
+++ b/packages/app-lib/src/state/db.rs
@@ -304,6 +304,18 @@ async fn app_db_path(settings_dir: &Path) -> crate::Result<PathBuf> {
     Ok(settings_dir.join(channel).join(LEGACY_APP_DB_FILE))
 }
 
+/// The update channel a fresh install should default to. Beta builds carry a
+/// pre-release version (e.g. `1.0.2-beta7`), so their installers should start
+/// on the Beta channel instead of silently falling back to Release.
+pub fn default_update_channel() -> &'static str {
+    let version = env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION");
+    if version.contains('-') {
+        "beta"
+    } else {
+        "release"
+    }
+}
+
 async fn read_update_channel(
     settings_dir: &Path,
 ) -> crate::Result<&'static str> {
@@ -311,7 +323,7 @@ async fn read_update_channel(
     let contents = match tokio::fs::read_to_string(&path).await {
         Ok(contents) => contents,
         Err(error) if error.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => {
-            return Ok("release");
+            return Ok(default_update_channel());
         }
         Err(error) => return Err(error.into()),
     };