diff --git a/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.providers.test.ts b/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.providers.test.ts
index efbbdd4e6d3..dbe59a2351a 100644
--- a/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.providers.test.ts
+++ b/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.providers.test.ts
@@ -104,6 +104,52 @@ describe("applyPluginAutoEnable providers", () => {
     expect(result.changes).toContain("brave web search provider selected, enabled automatically.");
   });
 
+  it("does not auto-enable selected web search provider plugins when web search is disabled", () => {
+    const result = applyPluginAutoEnable({
+      config: {
+        tools: {
+          web: {
+            search: {
+              enabled: false,
+              provider: "brave",
+            },
+          },
+        },
+        plugins: {
+          allow: ["telegram"],
+        },
+        agents: {
+          defaults: {
+            model: "codex/gpt-5.4",
+          },
+        },
+      },
+      env,
+      manifestRegistry: makeRegistry([
+        {
+          id: "brave",
+          channels: [],
+          contracts: {
+            webSearchProviders: ["brave"],
+          },
+        },
+        {
+          id: "codex",
+          channels: [],
+          providers: ["codex"],
+        },
+      ]),
+    });
+
+    expect(result.config.plugins?.entries?.codex?.enabled).toBe(true);
+    expect(result.config.plugins?.entries?.brave).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(result.config.plugins?.allow).toEqual(["telegram", "codex"]);
+    expect(result.changes).toContain("codex/gpt-5.4 model configured, enabled automatically.");
+    expect(result.changes).not.toContain(
+      "brave web search provider selected, enabled automatically.",
+    );
+  });
+
   it("materializes xai setup auto-enable when the plugin-owned x_search tool is configured", () => {
     const result = materializePluginAutoEnableCandidates({
       config: {
diff --git a/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.shared.ts b/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.shared.ts
index d420c6c00bb..257273d3daa 100644
--- a/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.shared.ts
+++ b/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.shared.ts
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ function collectPluginIdsForConfiguredChannel(
   }
 
   if (claims.length === 0) {
-    return [];
+    return builtInId ? [builtInId] : [];
   }
 
   const claimIds = new Set(claims.map((claim) => claim.plugin.id));
@@ -645,8 +645,9 @@ export function resolveConfiguredPluginAutoEnableCandidates(params: {
     }
   }
 
+  const webSearchConfig = params.config.tools?.web?.search;
   const webSearchProvider =
-    typeof params.config.tools?.web?.search?.provider === "string"
+    webSearchConfig?.enabled !== false && typeof webSearchConfig?.provider === "string"
       ? params.config.tools.web.search.provider
       : undefined;
   const webSearchPluginId = resolvePluginIdForConfiguredWebSearchProvider(