diff --git a/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.extra.test.ts b/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.extra.test.ts
index 610059ba..c12e9f98 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.extra.test.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.extra.test.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { act, renderHook, waitFor } from '@testing-library/react'
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 import { useVaultLoader } from './useVaultLoader'
 import type { ModifiedFile, VaultEntry, ViewFile } from '../types'
+import { loadedWorkspacePathsFromEntries } from './vaultWorkspaceEntries'
 
 const clearPrefetchCache = vi.fn()
 const backendInvokeFn = vi.fn()
@@ -296,4 +297,30 @@ describe('useVaultLoader extra', () => {
     expect(folders).toEqual([])
     expect(views).toEqual([])
   })
+
+  it('does not infer the fallback workspace from untagged entries when explicit workspace metadata is required', () => {
+    expect(loadedWorkspacePathsFromEntries([
+      makeEntry({ path: '/research/research-beacon.md' }),
+    ], '/field', { inferFallbackWorkspacePath: false })).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('uses explicit workspace metadata when fallback inference is disabled', () => {
+    expect(loadedWorkspacePathsFromEntries([
+      makeEntry({
+        path: '/research/research-beacon.md',
+        workspace: {
+          id: 'workspace',
+          label: 'Workspace',
+          alias: 'workspace',
+          path: '/research',
+          shortLabel: 'WS',
+          color: null,
+          icon: null,
+          mounted: true,
+          available: true,
+          defaultForNewNotes: false,
+        },
+      }),
+    ], '/field', { inferFallbackWorkspacePath: false })).toEqual(['/research'])
+  })
 })
diff --git a/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.ts b/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.ts
index 36627278..46479691 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.ts
@@ -378,6 +378,10 @@ function useInitialVaultLoad(options: InitialVaultLoadOptions) {
     defaultWorkspacePath,
   } = options
   const loadOptionsRef = useInitialVaultLoadSnapshot(vaults, defaultWorkspacePath)
+  const loadOptionsKey = useMemo(
+    () => workspacePathSetKey(uniqueWorkspacePathsFromVaults(vaultPath, vaults)),
+    [vaultPath, vaults],
+  )
 
   useEffect(() => {
     const path = vaultPath
@@ -415,6 +419,7 @@ function useInitialVaultLoad(options: InitialVaultLoadOptions) {
     resetReloading,
     setEntries, setFolders, setIsLoading, setModifiedFiles, setModifiedFilesError, setViews,
     loadOptionsRef,
+    loadOptionsKey,
   ])
 }
 
@@ -836,21 +841,25 @@ function useInitialLoadedWorkspaceMarker({
   isLoading,
   loadedWorkspacePathsRef,
   vaultPath,
+  vaults,
 }: {
   entries: VaultEntry[]
   initialLoadedVaultPathRef: MutableRefObject<string | null>
   isLoading: boolean
   loadedWorkspacePathsRef: MutableRefObject<Set<string>>
   vaultPath: string
+  vaults?: VaultOption[]
 }) {
   useEffect(() => {
     if (isLoading || !hasVaultPath({ vaultPath }) || initialLoadedVaultPathRef.current === vaultPath) return
     initialLoadedVaultPathRef.current = vaultPath
     loadedWorkspacePathsRef.current = new Set([
       ...loadedWorkspacePathsRef.current,
-      ...loadedWorkspacePathsFromEntries(entries, vaultPath),
+      ...loadedWorkspacePathsFromEntries(entries, vaultPath, {
+        inferFallbackWorkspacePath: !vaults?.length,
+      }),
     ])
-  }, [entries, initialLoadedVaultPathRef, isLoading, loadedWorkspacePathsRef, vaultPath])
+  }, [entries, initialLoadedVaultPathRef, isLoading, loadedWorkspacePathsRef, vaultPath, vaults])
 }
 
 function useWorkspaceMetadataRetagEffect({
@@ -1022,7 +1031,7 @@ function useWorkspaceEntrySync({
   const refs = useWorkspaceLoadRefs()
 
   usePrunedWorkspaceLoadRefs(refs, desiredWorkspaceKey, desiredWorkspacePaths)
-  useInitialLoadedWorkspaceMarker({ entries, vaultPath, isLoading, ...refs })
+  useInitialLoadedWorkspaceMarker({ entries, vaultPath, vaults, isLoading, ...refs })
   useWorkspaceMetadataRetagEffect({
     defaultWorkspacePath,
     desiredWorkspaceKey,
diff --git a/src/hooks/vaultWorkspaceEntries.ts b/src/hooks/vaultWorkspaceEntries.ts
index b30bacee..fba484af 100644
--- a/src/hooks/vaultWorkspaceEntries.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/vaultWorkspaceEntries.ts
@@ -23,19 +23,30 @@ export function initialVaultsForPath(path: string, vaults?: VaultOption[]): Vaul
   return matchingVaults.length > 0 ? matchingVaults : undefined
 }
 
-function workspacePathsFromEntries(entries: VaultEntry[], fallbackVaultPath: string): string[] {
+function workspacePathsFromEntries(
+  entries: VaultEntry[],
+  fallbackVaultPath: string,
+  inferFallbackWorkspacePath: boolean,
+): string[] {
   const paths = new Set<string>()
   for (const entry of entries) {
-    const path = entryWorkspacePath(entry, fallbackVaultPath)
+    const path = inferFallbackWorkspacePath
+      ? entryWorkspacePath(entry, fallbackVaultPath)
+      : entry.workspace?.path ?? ''
     if (path.trim()) paths.add(path)
   }
   return [...paths]
 }
 
-export function loadedWorkspacePathsFromEntries(entries: VaultEntry[], fallbackVaultPath: string): string[] {
-  const paths = workspacePathsFromEntries(entries, fallbackVaultPath)
+export function loadedWorkspacePathsFromEntries(
+  entries: VaultEntry[],
+  fallbackVaultPath: string,
+  options: { inferFallbackWorkspacePath?: boolean } = {},
+): string[] {
+  const inferFallbackWorkspacePath = options.inferFallbackWorkspacePath ?? true
+  const paths = workspacePathsFromEntries(entries, fallbackVaultPath, inferFallbackWorkspacePath)
   if (paths.length > 0) return paths
-  return fallbackVaultPath.trim() ? [fallbackVaultPath] : []
+  return inferFallbackWorkspacePath && fallbackVaultPath.trim() ? [fallbackVaultPath] : []
 }
 
 type WorkspaceIdentityMetadataKey =