diff --git a/packages/cli/src/core/initializer.ts b/packages/cli/src/core/initializer.ts
index fe81816d9..7f7dd508e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/core/initializer.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/core/initializer.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import { type LoadedSettings, SettingScope } from '../config/settings.js';
 import { performInitialAuth } from './auth.js';
 import { validateTheme } from './theme.js';
 import { initializeI18n, type SupportedLanguage } from '../i18n/index.js';
-import { initializeLlmOutputLanguage } from '../utils/languageUtils.js';
 
 export interface InitializationResult {
   authError: string | null;
@@ -42,9 +41,6 @@ export async function initializeApp(
     'auto';
   await initializeI18n(languageSetting as SupportedLanguage | 'auto');
 
-  // Auto-detect and set LLM output language on first use
-  initializeLlmOutputLanguage(settings.merged.general?.outputLanguage);
-
   // Use authType from modelsConfig which respects CLI --auth-type argument
   // over settings.security.auth.selectedType
   const authType = config.modelsConfig.getCurrentAuthType();
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/gemini.tsx b/packages/cli/src/gemini.tsx
index ea2dee43b..cdc873be9 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/gemini.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/gemini.tsx
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ import { getCliVersion } from './utils/version.js';
 import { computeWindowTitle } from './utils/windowTitle.js';
 import { validateNonInteractiveAuth } from './validateNonInterActiveAuth.js';
 import { showResumeSessionPicker } from './ui/components/StandaloneSessionPicker.js';
+import { initializeLlmOutputLanguage } from './utils/languageUtils.js';
 
 export function validateDnsResolutionOrder(
   order: string | undefined,
@@ -327,6 +328,10 @@ export async function main() {
   // We are now past the logic handling potentially launching a child process
   // to run Gemini CLI. It is now safe to perform expensive initialization that
   // may have side effects.
+
+  // Initialize output language file before config loads to ensure it's included in context
+  initializeLlmOutputLanguage(settings.merged.general?.outputLanguage);
+
   {
     const config = await loadCliConfig(
       settings.merged,