diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index d20719eb0a5a8929dfea04feebd0f3364fa74089..577b3fb364b183b5909ec041275c9428782cd935 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -524,6 +524,11 @@ func (c Config) merge(t Config) Config {
 	}
 	c.Tools = c.Tools.merge(t.Tools)
 
+	// RecentModels are not merged - use whichever is not empty
+	if len(t.RecentModels) > 0 {
+		c.RecentModels = t.RecentModels
+	}
+
 	return c
 }