diff --git a/studio/setup.ps1 b/studio/setup.ps1
index f323a6bf2..2dd52d36b 100644
--- a/studio/setup.ps1
+++ b/studio/setup.ps1
@@ -1827,11 +1827,18 @@ step "transformers" "5.5.0 pre-installed"
 # stale UNSLOTH_STUDIO_HOME pointing at the legacy default does not
 # accidentally relocate llama.cpp.
 $LegacyStudioHome = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE ".unsloth\studio"
-# Canonicalize the legacy side to match $StudioHome's normalized form.
+# Canonicalize BOTH sides. $StudioHome is the resolved env-override path
+# in env-mode (line 1474) but the bare logical path in default mode
+# (line 1480). Canonicalizing on the fly handles a junctioned/symlinked
+# %USERPROFILE% the same in both modes.
+$_studioHomeCanon = $StudioHome
+if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $_studioHomeCanon -PathType Container) {
+    $_studioHomeCanon = (Resolve-Path -LiteralPath $_studioHomeCanon).Path
+}
 if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $LegacyStudioHome -PathType Container) {
     $LegacyStudioHome = (Resolve-Path -LiteralPath $LegacyStudioHome).Path
 }
-if ($StudioHome -eq $LegacyStudioHome) {
+if ($_studioHomeCanon -eq $LegacyStudioHome) {
     $UnslothHome = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE ".unsloth"
 } else {
     $UnslothHome = $StudioHome
diff --git a/studio/setup.sh b/studio/setup.sh
index 86f66f190..affcc5683 100755
--- a/studio/setup.sh
+++ b/studio/setup.sh
@@ -575,14 +575,21 @@ fi
 # of env-var presence avoids regressing default installs that incidentally
 # inherit UNSLOTH_STUDIO_HOME from a parent process or the CLI.
 _LEGACY_STUDIO_HOME="$HOME/.unsloth/studio"
-# Canonicalize the legacy side so a symlinked $HOME doesn't make the
-# comparison fail when STUDIO_HOME (already canonicalized) and the
-# legacy path point at the same directory.
+# Canonicalize BOTH sides under symlinked $HOME. STUDIO_HOME is logical
+# in default-mode (line 416 sets it from the bare $HOME path) and
+# canonical in env-mode (line 413 uses pwd -P). Canonicalizing on the
+# fly here means default-mode under symlinked $HOME still recognizes
+# the legacy default and keeps llama.cpp at ~/.unsloth/llama.cpp.
+_studio_home_canon="$STUDIO_HOME"
+if [ -d "$_studio_home_canon" ]; then
+    _studio_home_canon=$(CDPATH= cd -P -- "$_studio_home_canon" 2>/dev/null && pwd -P) \
+        || _studio_home_canon="$STUDIO_HOME"
+fi
 if [ -d "$_LEGACY_STUDIO_HOME" ]; then
     _LEGACY_STUDIO_HOME=$(CDPATH= cd -P -- "$_LEGACY_STUDIO_HOME" 2>/dev/null && pwd -P) \
         || _LEGACY_STUDIO_HOME="$HOME/.unsloth/studio"
 fi
-if [ "$STUDIO_HOME" = "$_LEGACY_STUDIO_HOME" ]; then
+if [ "$_studio_home_canon" = "$_LEGACY_STUDIO_HOME" ]; then
     UNSLOTH_HOME="$HOME/.unsloth"
 else
     UNSLOTH_HOME="$STUDIO_HOME"