diff --git a/src/entrypoints/cli.tsx b/src/entrypoints/cli.tsx
index e67a8764..4f75d5c3 100644
--- a/src/entrypoints/cli.tsx
+++ b/src/entrypoints/cli.tsx
@@ -134,6 +134,18 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
     return;
   }
 
+  // --provider: set provider env vars early so saved-profile resolution,
+  // validation, and the startup banner all see the intended provider/model.
+  if (args.includes('--provider')) {
+    const { applyProviderFlagFromArgs } = await import('../utils/providerFlag.js');
+    const result = applyProviderFlagFromArgs(args);
+    if (result?.error) {
+      // biome-ignore lint/suspicious/noConsole:: intentional error output
+      console.error(`Error: ${result.error}`);
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+  }
+
   {
     const { enableConfigs } = await import('../utils/config.js')
     enableConfigs()
@@ -406,22 +418,6 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
     process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_SIMPLE = '1';
   }
 
-  // --provider: set provider env vars early, before main module loads.
-  // This mirrors the --bare pattern: env vars must be in place before
-  // Commander option building and module-level constants are evaluated.
-  if (args.includes('--provider')) {
-    const { parseProviderFlag, applyProviderFlag } = await import('../utils/providerFlag.js');
-    const provider = parseProviderFlag(args);
-    if (provider) {
-      const result = applyProviderFlag(provider, args);
-      if (result.error) {
-        // biome-ignore lint/suspicious/noConsole:: intentional error output
-        console.error(`Error: ${result.error}`);
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
   // No special flags detected, load and run the full CLI
   if (process.env.OPENCLAUDE_DISABLE_EARLY_INPUT !== '1') {
     const {
diff --git a/src/utils/providerFlag.test.ts b/src/utils/providerFlag.test.ts
index 30f392fc..ce58fff6 100644
--- a/src/utils/providerFlag.test.ts
+++ b/src/utils/providerFlag.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 import { describe, expect, test, afterEach } from 'bun:test'
-import { parseProviderFlag, applyProviderFlag, VALID_PROVIDERS } from './providerFlag.js'
+import {
+  parseProviderFlag,
+  applyProviderFlag,
+  applyProviderFlagFromArgs,
+  VALID_PROVIDERS,
+} from './providerFlag.js'
 
 const originalEnv = { ...process.env }
 
@@ -137,3 +142,23 @@ describe('applyProviderFlag - invalid provider', () => {
     expect(result.error).toContain(VALID_PROVIDERS.join(', '))
   })
 })
+
+describe('applyProviderFlagFromArgs', () => {
+  test('applies ollama provider and model from argv in one step', () => {
+    const result = applyProviderFlagFromArgs([
+      '--provider',
+      'ollama',
+      '--model',
+      'qwen2.5:3b',
+    ])
+
+    expect(result?.error).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI).toBe('1')
+    expect(process.env.OPENAI_BASE_URL).toBe('http://localhost:11434/v1')
+    expect(process.env.OPENAI_MODEL).toBe('qwen2.5:3b')
+  })
+
+  test('returns undefined when --provider is absent', () => {
+    expect(applyProviderFlagFromArgs(['--model', 'gpt-4o'])).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/utils/providerFlag.ts b/src/utils/providerFlag.ts
index 6a56eca0..b2cbc06f 100644
--- a/src/utils/providerFlag.ts
+++ b/src/utils/providerFlag.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,18 @@ export function parseProviderFlag(args: string[]): string | null {
   return value
 }
 
+/**
+ * Parse and apply --provider from argv in one step.
+ * Returns undefined when the flag is absent.
+ */
+export function applyProviderFlagFromArgs(
+  args: string[],
+): { error?: string } | undefined {
+  const provider = parseProviderFlag(args)
+  if (!provider) return undefined
+  return applyProviderFlag(provider, args)
+}
+
 /**
  * Extract the value of --model from argv.
  * Returns null if absent.