diff --git a/qt/aqt/main.py b/qt/aqt/main.py
index e5e049d38..45d0a262f 100644
--- a/qt/aqt/main.py
+++ b/qt/aqt/main.py
@@ -282,8 +282,12 @@ class AnkiQt(QMainWindow):
         if not self.pm.name:
             # if there's a single profile, load it automatically
             profs = self.pm.profiles()
+            name = self.pm.last_loaded_profile_name()
             if len(profs) == 1:
                 self.pm.load(profs[0])
+            elif name in profs:
+                self.pm.load(name)
+
         if not self.pm.name:
             self.showProfileManager()
         else:
diff --git a/qt/aqt/profiles.py b/qt/aqt/profiles.py
index 6d00fb6a3..0aa5bb27c 100644
--- a/qt/aqt/profiles.py
+++ b/qt/aqt/profiles.py
@@ -220,6 +220,7 @@ class ProfileManager:
             print("resetting corrupt profile")
             self.profile = profileConf.copy()
             self.save()
+        self.set_last_loaded_profile_name(name)
         return True
 
     def save(self) -> None:
@@ -544,6 +545,12 @@ create table if not exists profiles
     def set_new_import_export(self, enabled: bool) -> None:
         self.meta["new_import_export"] = enabled
 
+    def last_loaded_profile_name(self) -> str | None:
+        return self.meta.get("last_loaded_profile_name")
+
+    def set_last_loaded_profile_name(self, name: str) -> None:
+        self.meta["last_loaded_profile_name"] = name
+
     # Profile-specific
     ######################################################################