diff --git a/src/prefect/profiles.toml b/src/prefect/profiles.toml
index a0cdc693f15f8..2d3aafdc07364 100644
--- a/src/prefect/profiles.toml
+++ b/src/prefect/profiles.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 # This is a template for profile configuration for Prefect.
 # You can modify these profiles or create new ones to suit their needs.
 
-active = "ephemeral"
+active = "default"
+
+[profiles.default]
 
 [profiles.ephemeral]
 PREFECT_API_DATABASE_CONNECTION_URL = "sqlite+aiosqlite:///prefect.db"
diff --git a/tests/cli/test_profile.py b/tests/cli/test_profile.py
index bfc19d72fc568..a57f2d1f115bf 100644
--- a/tests/cli/test_profile.py
+++ b/tests/cli/test_profile.py
@@ -610,7 +610,9 @@ def test_populate_defaults(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
     assert populated_profiles.names == default_profiles.names
     assert populated_profiles.active_name == default_profiles.active_name
 
-    assert {"local", "ephemeral", "test", "cloud"} == set(populated_profiles.names)
+    assert {"local", "ephemeral", "test", "cloud", "default"} == set(
+        populated_profiles.names
+    )
 
     for name in default_profiles.names:
         assert populated_profiles[name].settings == default_profiles[name].settings
@@ -640,7 +642,7 @@ def test_populate_defaults_with_existing_profiles(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
 
     new_profiles = load_profiles()
     assert "existing" not in new_profiles.names
-    assert {"local", "ephemeral", "test", "cloud"} == set(new_profiles.names)
+    assert {"local", "ephemeral", "test", "cloud", "default"} == set(new_profiles.names)
 
     backup_profiles = _read_profiles_from(temp_profiles_path.with_suffix(".toml.bak"))
     assert "existing" in backup_profiles.names
diff --git a/tests/test_context.py b/tests/test_context.py
index 456f554c86fc5..7c0a8fad66787 100644
--- a/tests/test_context.py
+++ b/tests/test_context.py
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ def test_root_settings_context_default(self, monkeypatch):
             Profile(name="default", settings={}, source=DEFAULT_PROFILES_PATH),
             override_environment_variables=False,
         )
-        use_profile().__enter__.assert_called_once_with()
+        use_profile().__enter__.assert_called_once()
         assert result is not None
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(