diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c19d9372d45..e83cb2554bb 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- WhatsApp: honor the configured default account when the active listener helper is used without an explicit account id, so named default accounts do not get registered under `default`. (#53918) Thanks @yhyatt.
+
 ## 2026.4.10
 
 ### Changes
diff --git a/extensions/whatsapp/src/active-listener.test.ts b/extensions/whatsapp/src/active-listener.test.ts
index a1d037f788a..c5c6d103db5 100644
--- a/extensions/whatsapp/src/active-listener.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/whatsapp/src/active-listener.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 
+// Mock loadConfig so the single-arg setActiveWebListener overload resolves
+// the configured default account as "work" (matching the regression test).
+// All other tests pass explicit accountIds and are unaffected by this mock.
+vi.mock("openclaw/plugin-sdk/config-runtime", () => ({
+  loadConfig: () => ({
+    channels: { whatsapp: { accounts: { work: { enabled: true } }, defaultAccount: "work" } },
+  }),
+}));
+
 type ActiveListenerModule = typeof import("./active-listener.js");
 
 const activeListenerModuleUrl = new URL("./active-listener.ts", import.meta.url).href;
@@ -12,18 +21,28 @@ afterEach(async () => {
   const mod = await importActiveListenerModule(`cleanup-${Date.now()}`);
   mod.setActiveWebListener(null);
   mod.setActiveWebListener("work", null);
+  mod.setActiveWebListener("default", null);
 });
 
+/** Minimal listener stub */
+function makeListener() {
+  return {
+    sendMessage: vi.fn(async () => ({ messageId: "msg-1" })),
+    sendPoll: vi.fn(async () => ({ messageId: "poll-1" })),
+    sendReaction: vi.fn(async () => {}),
+    sendComposingTo: vi.fn(async () => {}),
+  };
+}
+
 describe("active WhatsApp listener singleton", () => {
-  it("shares listeners across duplicate module instances", async () => {
+  it("shares listeners across duplicate module instances (bundle-fragmentation fix)", async () => {
+    // Simulates the scenario where two bundled copies of active-listener.ts are loaded
+    // (e.g. channel-web-*.js calls setActiveWebListener, outbound-*.js calls
+    // requireActiveWebListener). Without resolveGlobalSingleton they would each hold
+    // their own Map and the listener would never be found by the outbound path.
     const first = await importActiveListenerModule(`first-${Date.now()}`);
     const second = await importActiveListenerModule(`second-${Date.now()}`);
-    const listener = {
-      sendMessage: vi.fn(async () => ({ messageId: "msg-1" })),
-      sendPoll: vi.fn(async () => ({ messageId: "poll-1" })),
-      sendReaction: vi.fn(async () => {}),
-      sendComposingTo: vi.fn(async () => {}),
-    };
+    const listener = makeListener();
 
     first.setActiveWebListener("work", listener);
 
@@ -33,4 +52,74 @@ describe("active WhatsApp listener singleton", () => {
       listener,
     });
   });
+
+  it("single-arg overload registers under configured default account, not always 'default'", async () => {
+    // Regression: setActiveWebListener(listener) used DEFAULT_ACCOUNT_ID ("default")
+    // even when the configured default account is named "work". This caused
+    // requireActiveWebListener("work") to throw while the listener was silently
+    // registered under the wrong key.
+    const mod = await importActiveListenerModule(`named-account-${Date.now()}`);
+    const listener = makeListener();
+
+    // Single-arg call — should resolve accountId from loadConfig() default, which
+    // vitest config maps to "work" (see mock below).
+    mod.setActiveWebListener(listener);
+
+    // "work" must be resolvable — previously this threw
+    expect(mod.requireActiveWebListener("work")).toEqual({
+      accountId: "work",
+      listener,
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("single-arg overload still works when default account is 'default'", async () => {
+    // Backward-compat: configs that rely on the "default" account name must
+    // continue to work after the fix. Use single-arg overload with a temporary
+    // spy that returns "default" as the configured default account.
+    const configRuntime = await import("openclaw/plugin-sdk/config-runtime");
+    const spy = vi.spyOn(configRuntime, "loadConfig").mockReturnValue({
+      channels: {
+        whatsapp: { accounts: { default: { enabled: true } }, defaultAccount: "default" },
+      },
+    } as ReturnType<typeof configRuntime.loadConfig>);
+
+    try {
+      const mod = await importActiveListenerModule(`default-account-${Date.now()}`);
+      const listener = makeListener();
+
+      // Single-arg call — should resolve to "default" via the spy
+      mod.setActiveWebListener(listener);
+
+      expect(mod.requireActiveWebListener("default")).toEqual({
+        accountId: "default",
+        listener,
+      });
+      // The legacy no-arg lookup (undefined → "default") must also work
+      expect(mod.requireActiveWebListener()).toEqual({
+        accountId: "default",
+        listener,
+      });
+    } finally {
+      spy.mockRestore();
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("requireActiveWebListener throws a clear error when listener is missing", async () => {
+    const mod = await importActiveListenerModule(`missing-${Date.now()}`);
+
+    expect(() => mod.requireActiveWebListener("work")).toThrowError(
+      /No active WhatsApp Web listener \(account: work\)/,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("setActiveWebListener with null removes the listener", async () => {
+    const mod = await importActiveListenerModule(`remove-${Date.now()}`);
+    const listener = makeListener();
+
+    mod.setActiveWebListener("work", listener);
+    expect(mod.getActiveWebListener("work")).toBe(listener);
+
+    mod.setActiveWebListener("work", null);
+    expect(mod.getActiveWebListener("work")).toBeNull();
+  });
 });
diff --git a/extensions/whatsapp/src/active-listener.ts b/extensions/whatsapp/src/active-listener.ts
index 18eb3918758..c1e68a20c41 100644
--- a/extensions/whatsapp/src/active-listener.ts
+++ b/extensions/whatsapp/src/active-listener.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import { formatCliCommand } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/cli-runtime";
+import { loadConfig } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/config-runtime";
 import type { PollInput } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/media-runtime";
 import { DEFAULT_ACCOUNT_ID } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/routing";
+import { resolveDefaultWhatsAppAccountId } from "./accounts.js";
 
 export type ActiveWebSendOptions = {
   gifPlayback?: boolean;
@@ -53,7 +55,7 @@ function setCurrentListener(listener: ActiveWebListener | null): void {
 }
 
 export function resolveWebAccountId(accountId?: string | null): string {
-  return (accountId ?? "").trim() || DEFAULT_ACCOUNT_ID;
+  return (accountId ?? "").trim() || resolveDefaultWhatsAppAccountId(loadConfig());
 }
 
 export function requireActiveWebListener(accountId?: string | null): {
@@ -83,7 +85,10 @@ export function setActiveWebListener(
     typeof accountIdOrListener === "string"
       ? { accountId: accountIdOrListener, listener: maybeListener ?? null }
       : {
-          accountId: DEFAULT_ACCOUNT_ID,
+          // Resolve the configured default account name so that callers using the
+          // single-arg overload register under the right key (e.g. "work"), not
+          // always under DEFAULT_ACCOUNT_ID ("default").
+          accountId: resolveDefaultWhatsAppAccountId(loadConfig()),
           listener: accountIdOrListener ?? null,
         };