diff --git a/shared/src/voice.backends.test.ts b/shared/src/voice.backends.test.ts
index f53f9940..322c209e 100644
--- a/shared/src/voice.backends.test.ts
+++ b/shared/src/voice.backends.test.ts
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ describe('listConfiguredVoiceBackends', () => {
         expect(backends).toEqual(['elevenlabs', 'gemini-live', 'qwen-realtime'])
     })
 
-    test('falls back to elevenlabs when no keys configured', () => {
-        expect(listConfiguredVoiceBackends({})).toEqual(['elevenlabs'])
+    test('returns empty when no keys configured', () => {
+        expect(listConfiguredVoiceBackends({})).toEqual([])
     })
 })
 
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ describe('resolveHubVoiceBackend', () => {
         })
         expect(backend).toBe('elevenlabs')
     })
+
+    test('returns null when no backends configured', () => {
+        expect(resolveHubVoiceBackend({})).toBeNull()
+    })
 })
 
 describe('resolveEffectiveVoiceBackend', () => {
@@ -50,4 +54,8 @@ describe('resolveEffectiveVoiceBackend', () => {
         expect(resolveEffectiveVoiceBackend(configured, 'gemini-live', null)).toBe('gemini-live')
         expect(resolveEffectiveVoiceBackend(configured, 'gemini-live', 'qwen-realtime')).toBe('gemini-live')
     })
+
+    test('returns null when no backends configured', () => {
+        expect(resolveEffectiveVoiceBackend([], null, null)).toBeNull()
+    })
 })
diff --git a/shared/src/voice.ts b/shared/src/voice.ts
index 7cc4738c..004f5bf3 100644
--- a/shared/src/voice.ts
+++ b/shared/src/voice.ts
@@ -260,25 +260,31 @@ export function listConfiguredVoiceBackends(env: VoiceBackendEnv): VoiceBackendT
     if (env.DASHSCOPE_API_KEY?.trim() || env.QWEN_API_KEY?.trim()) {
         backends.push('qwen-realtime')
     }
-    return backends.length > 0 ? backends : [DEFAULT_VOICE_BACKEND]
+    return backends
 }
 
-/** Hub default from VOICE_BACKEND when configured, else first available backend. */
-export function resolveHubVoiceBackend(env: VoiceBackendEnv): VoiceBackendType {
+/** Hub default from VOICE_BACKEND when configured, else first available backend. null when none configured. */
+export function resolveHubVoiceBackend(env: VoiceBackendEnv): VoiceBackendType | null {
     const configured = listConfiguredVoiceBackends(env)
+    if (configured.length === 0) {
+        return null
+    }
     const raw = env.VOICE_BACKEND
     const fromEnv = VOICE_BACKEND_VALUES.includes(raw as VoiceBackendType)
         ? (raw as VoiceBackendType)
         : DEFAULT_VOICE_BACKEND
-    return configured.includes(fromEnv) ? fromEnv : (configured[0] ?? DEFAULT_VOICE_BACKEND)
+    return configured.includes(fromEnv) ? fromEnv : configured[0]!
 }
 
 /** User preference wins when valid; otherwise hub default. */
 export function resolveEffectiveVoiceBackend(
     configured: readonly VoiceBackendType[],
-    hubDefault: VoiceBackendType,
+    hubDefault: VoiceBackendType | null,
     storedPreference: string | null | undefined
-): VoiceBackendType {
+): VoiceBackendType | null {
+    if (configured.length === 0) {
+        return null
+    }
     if (
         storedPreference
         && VOICE_BACKEND_VALUES.includes(storedPreference as VoiceBackendType)
@@ -286,10 +292,10 @@ export function resolveEffectiveVoiceBackend(
     ) {
         return storedPreference as VoiceBackendType
     }
-    if (configured.includes(hubDefault)) {
+    if (hubDefault && configured.includes(hubDefault)) {
         return hubDefault
     }
-    return configured[0] ?? hubDefault
+    return configured[0] ?? null
 }
 
 export const GEMINI_LIVE_MODEL = 'gemini-2.5-flash-native-audio-latest'
diff --git a/web/src/api/voice.ts b/web/src/api/voice.ts
index 9df55841..4b8679d5 100644
--- a/web/src/api/voice.ts
+++ b/web/src/api/voice.ts
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ export async function fetchQwenToken(api: ApiClient): Promise<QwenTokenResponse>
 
 export interface VoiceBackendResponse {
     /** Hub default (VOICE_BACKEND env, validated against configured backends). */
-    backend: VoiceBackendType
+    backend: VoiceBackendType | null
     /** Backends with API keys configured on the hub. */
     backends: VoiceBackendType[]
 }
@@ -229,12 +229,12 @@ function isVoiceBackendType(value: string): value is VoiceBackendType {
 export async function fetchVoiceBackend(api: ApiClient): Promise<VoiceBackendResponse> {
     const result = await api.fetchVoiceBackend()
     const { backend } = result
-    if (!isVoiceBackendType(backend)) {
+    if (backend !== null && !isVoiceBackendType(backend)) {
         throw new Error(`Unrecognised voice backend: ${backend}`)
     }
-    const rawBackends = Array.isArray(result.backends) ? result.backends : [backend]
+    const rawBackends = Array.isArray(result.backends) ? result.backends : backend !== null ? [backend] : []
     const backends = rawBackends.filter(isVoiceBackendType)
-    if (backends.length === 0) {
+    if (backend !== null && backends.length === 0) {
         backends.push(backend)
     }
     return { backend, backends }
diff --git a/web/src/lib/voicePickerPreferences.ts b/web/src/lib/voicePickerPreferences.ts
index d0ccc3d9..5b78581a 100644
--- a/web/src/lib/voicePickerPreferences.ts
+++ b/web/src/lib/voicePickerPreferences.ts
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ export function writeStoredVoiceBackendPreference(backend: VoiceBackendType): vo
 
 export function resolveSelectedVoiceBackend(
     configured: readonly VoiceBackendType[],
-    hubDefault: VoiceBackendType
-): VoiceBackendType {
+    hubDefault: VoiceBackendType | null
+): VoiceBackendType | null {
     return resolveEffectiveVoiceBackend(
         configured,
         hubDefault,
diff --git a/web/src/routes/settings/useVoiceSettings.ts b/web/src/routes/settings/useVoiceSettings.ts
index 1ebcd261..34e2b343 100644
--- a/web/src/routes/settings/useVoiceSettings.ts
+++ b/web/src/routes/settings/useVoiceSettings.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export function useVoiceSettings() {
             setConfiguredBackends(response.backends)
             const selected = resolveSelectedVoiceBackend(response.backends, response.backend)
             setBackendState(selected)
-            setVoiceIdState(readStoredVoiceSelection(selected))
+            setVoiceIdState(selected ? readStoredVoiceSelection(selected) : null)
         }).catch(() => {
             if (cancelled) return
             setConfiguredBackends(['elevenlabs'])