diff --git a/ui/src/utils/imageSelection.js b/ui/src/utils/imageSelection.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..59a6346f1426
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/src/utils/imageSelection.js
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+export function getImageHypervisor (imageItems, imageType, imageId) {
+  if (imageType !== 'templateid' || !imageId) {
+    return null
+  }
+
+  for (const group of Object.values(imageItems || {})) {
+    const templates = group?.template
+    if (!Array.isArray(templates)) {
+      continue
+    }
+
+    const image = templates.find(item => item.id === imageId)
+    if (image) {
+      return image.hypervisor || null
+    }
+  }
+
+  return null
+}
diff --git a/ui/src/views/compute/wizard/OsBasedImageSelection.vue b/ui/src/views/compute/wizard/OsBasedImageSelection.vue
index 6a52eea207b0..767dedb401b3 100644
--- a/ui/src/views/compute/wizard/OsBasedImageSelection.vue
+++ b/ui/src/views/compute/wizard/OsBasedImageSelection.vue
@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ import OsLogo from '@/components/widgets/OsLogo'
 import OsBasedImageSelectionSearchView from '@views/compute/wizard/OsBasedImageSelectionSearchView'
 import OsBasedImageRadioGroup from '@views/compute/wizard/OsBasedImageRadioGroup'
 import DiskSizeSelection from '@views/compute/wizard/DiskSizeSelection'
+import { getImageHypervisor } from '@/utils/imageSelection'
 
 export default {
   name: 'OsBasedImageSelection',
@@ -234,6 +235,20 @@ export default {
   watch: {
     selectedImageType (newValue) {
       this.localSelectedImageType = newValue
+      this.emitEffectiveHypervisor(newValue, this.selectedImageId)
+    },
+    imageItems () {
+      this.emitEffectiveHypervisor(
+        this.localSelectedImageType,
+        this.selectedImageId,
+        false
+      )
+    },
+    'preFillContent.hypervisor' () {
+      this.emitEffectiveHypervisor(
+        this.localSelectedImageType,
+        this.selectedImageId
+      )
     },
     guestOsCategories (newValue) {
       this.imageSearchFilters = {}
@@ -285,9 +300,30 @@ export default {
       this.localSelectedGuestOsCategoryId = value
       this.$emit('change-guest-os-category', this.localSelectedGuestOsCategoryId)
     },
+    emitEffectiveHypervisor (imageType, imageId, useFallback = true) {
+      const fallbackHypervisor = this.preFillContent?.hypervisor
+      if (!fallbackHypervisor) {
+        return
+      }
+      const imageHypervisor = getImageHypervisor(
+        this.imageItems,
+        imageType,
+        imageId
+      )
+      if (imageHypervisor || useFallback) {
+        this.$emit(
+          'update-image',
+          'hypervisor',
+          imageHypervisor || fallbackHypervisor
+        )
+      }
+    },
     updateImage (decorator, id) {
       this.selectedImageId = id
       this.$emit('update-image', decorator, id)
+      if (decorator === 'templateid') {
+        this.emitEffectiveHypervisor(decorator, id)
+      }
     },
     handleImageSearch (searchFilters) {
       this.imageSearchFilters = {
diff --git a/ui/src/views/compute/wizard/TemplateIsoSelection.vue b/ui/src/views/compute/wizard/TemplateIsoSelection.vue
index 4979068dac70..860d1b3eb470 100644
--- a/ui/src/views/compute/wizard/TemplateIsoSelection.vue
+++ b/ui/src/views/compute/wizard/TemplateIsoSelection.vue
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 
 <script>
 import TemplateIsoRadioGroup from '@views/compute/wizard/TemplateIsoRadioGroup'
+import { getImageHypervisor } from '@/utils/imageSelection'
 
 export default {
   name: 'TemplateIsoSelection',
@@ -98,6 +99,14 @@ export default {
       pagination: false
     }
   },
+  mounted () {
+    if (this.inputDecorator !== 'templateid') {
+      this.emitEffectiveHypervisor(
+        this.inputDecorator,
+        this.checkedValue
+      )
+    }
+  },
   watch: {
     items: {
       deep: true,
@@ -110,7 +119,7 @@ export default {
           if (this.preFillContent.templateid) {
             if (items[filter.id]?.[key]?.some(item => item.id === this.preFillContent.templateid)) {
               this.filterType = filter.id
-              this.checkedValue = items[filter.id][key][0].id
+              this.checkedValue = this.preFillContent.templateid
               break
             }
           } else if (items[filter.id]?.[key]?.length > 0) {
@@ -119,18 +128,51 @@ export default {
             break
           }
         }
+        this.emitEffectiveHypervisor(
+          this.inputDecorator,
+          this.checkedValue,
+          false
+        )
       }
     },
     inputDecorator (newValue, oldValue) {
       if (newValue !== oldValue) {
         this.filter = ''
       }
+      this.emitEffectiveHypervisor(newValue, this.checkedValue)
+    },
+    'preFillContent.hypervisor' () {
+      this.emitEffectiveHypervisor(
+        this.inputDecorator,
+        this.checkedValue
+      )
     }
   },
   methods: {
+    emitEffectiveHypervisor (imageType, imageId, useFallback = true) {
+      const fallbackHypervisor = this.preFillContent?.hypervisor
+      if (!fallbackHypervisor) {
+        return
+      }
+      const imageHypervisor = getImageHypervisor(
+        this.items,
+        imageType,
+        imageId
+      )
+      if (imageHypervisor || useFallback) {
+        this.$emit(
+          'update-template-iso',
+          'hypervisor',
+          imageHypervisor || fallbackHypervisor
+        )
+      }
+    },
     updateTemplateIso (name, id) {
       this.checkedValue = id
       this.$emit('update-template-iso', name, id)
+      if (name === 'templateid') {
+        this.emitEffectiveHypervisor(name, id)
+      }
     },
     handleSearch (value) {
       if (!this.filter && !value) {
diff --git a/ui/tests/unit/views/compute/ImageSelectionHypervisor.spec.js b/ui/tests/unit/views/compute/ImageSelectionHypervisor.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..40d29268bfc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/tests/unit/views/compute/ImageSelectionHypervisor.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,358 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+import OsBasedImageSelection from '@/views/compute/wizard/OsBasedImageSelection'
+import TemplateIsoSelection from '@/views/compute/wizard/TemplateIsoSelection'
+
+// This method-level spec does not exercise child component rendering.
+jest.mock('@views/compute/wizard/OsBasedImageSelectionSearchView', () => ({}), { virtual: true })
+jest.mock('@views/compute/wizard/OsBasedImageRadioGroup', () => ({}), { virtual: true })
+jest.mock('@views/compute/wizard/DiskSizeSelection', () => ({}), { virtual: true })
+jest.mock('@views/compute/wizard/TemplateIsoRadioGroup', () => ({}), { virtual: true })
+
+const fallbackHypervisor = 'KVM'
+const imageItems = {
+  featured: {
+    count: 5,
+    template: [
+      { id: 'kvm-template', hypervisor: 'KVM' },
+      { id: 'xen-template', hypervisor: 'XenServer' },
+      { id: 'vmware-template', hypervisor: 'VMware' },
+      { id: 'template-without-hypervisor' },
+      { id: 'second-vmware-template', hypervisor: 'VMware' }
+    ],
+    iso: [{ id: 'test-iso' }]
+  },
+  executable: {
+    count: 1,
+    template: [{ id: 'external-template', hypervisor: 'External' }]
+  }
+}
+
+const selectors = [
+  {
+    name: 'modern image selector',
+    component: OsBasedImageSelection,
+    method: 'updateImage',
+    itemsProperty: 'imageItems',
+    selectedProperty: 'selectedImageId',
+    event: 'update-image'
+  },
+  {
+    name: 'legacy image selector',
+    component: TemplateIsoSelection,
+    method: 'updateTemplateIso',
+    itemsProperty: 'items',
+    selectedProperty: 'checkedValue',
+    event: 'update-template-iso'
+  }
+]
+
+const createContext = (
+  selector,
+  items = imageItems,
+  preFillContent = { hypervisor: fallbackHypervisor }
+) => {
+  const emit = jest.fn()
+  return {
+    emit,
+    context: {
+      [selector.itemsProperty]: items,
+      [selector.selectedProperty]: '',
+      preFillContent,
+      emitEffectiveHypervisor:
+        selector.component.methods.emitEffectiveHypervisor,
+      $emit: emit
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+const selectImage = (
+  selector,
+  imageType,
+  imageId,
+  items,
+  preFillContent
+) => {
+  const result = createContext(selector, items, preFillContent)
+  selector.component.methods[selector.method].call(
+    result.context,
+    imageType,
+    imageId
+  )
+  return result
+}
+
+describe('compute image selection hypervisor state', () => {
+  it.each(selectors)(
+    '$name propagates the selected template hypervisor',
+    selector => {
+      for (const [templateId, hypervisor] of [
+        ['kvm-template', 'KVM'],
+        ['xen-template', 'XenServer'],
+        ['vmware-template', 'VMware'],
+        ['external-template', 'External']
+      ]) {
+        const { context, emit } = selectImage(
+          selector,
+          'templateid',
+          templateId
+        )
+
+        expect(context[selector.selectedProperty]).toBe(templateId)
+        expect(emit.mock.calls).toEqual([
+          [selector.event, 'templateid', templateId],
+          [selector.event, 'hypervisor', hypervisor]
+        ])
+      }
+    }
+  )
+
+  it.each(selectors)(
+    '$name uses the zone fallback when selected template metadata is incomplete',
+    selector => {
+      for (const templateId of [
+        'missing-template',
+        'template-without-hypervisor'
+      ]) {
+        const { emit } = selectImage(
+          selector,
+          'templateid',
+          templateId
+        )
+        expect(emit).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(
+          selector.event,
+          'hypervisor',
+          fallbackHypervisor
+        )
+      }
+    }
+  )
+
+  it.each(selectors)(
+    '$name leaves non-template image updates independent',
+    selector => {
+      for (const [imageType, imageId] of [
+        ['isoid', 'test-iso'],
+        ['volumeid', 'test-volume'],
+        ['snapshotid', 'test-snapshot']
+      ]) {
+        const { emit } = selectImage(selector, imageType, imageId)
+        expect(emit.mock.calls).toEqual([
+          [selector.event, imageType, imageId]
+        ])
+      }
+    }
+  )
+
+  it.each(selectors)(
+    '$name leaves consumers without a hypervisor fallback unchanged',
+    selector => {
+      const { emit } = selectImage(
+        selector,
+        'templateid',
+        'xen-template',
+        imageItems,
+        {}
+      )
+
+      expect(emit.mock.calls).toEqual([
+        [selector.event, 'templateid', 'xen-template']
+      ])
+    }
+  )
+
+  it('resolves a modern preselected template after metadata loads', () => {
+    const selector = selectors[0]
+    const { context, emit } = createContext(selector, {})
+    context.localSelectedImageType = 'templateid'
+    context.selectedImageId = 'xen-template'
+    context.imageItems = imageItems
+
+    OsBasedImageSelection.watch.imageItems.call(context)
+
+    expect(emit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'update-image',
+      'hypervisor',
+      'XenServer'
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('does not reset a modern selection when it is absent from a refreshed result page', () => {
+    const selector = selectors[0]
+    const { context, emit } = createContext(selector, {
+      featured: {
+        count: 1,
+        template: [{ id: 'kvm-template', hypervisor: 'KVM' }]
+      }
+    })
+    context.localSelectedImageType = 'templateid'
+    context.selectedImageId = 'xen-template'
+
+    OsBasedImageSelection.watch.imageItems.call(context)
+
+    expect(emit).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('restores the modern fallback as soon as image type changes', () => {
+    const selector = selectors[0]
+    const { context, emit } = createContext(selector)
+    context.localSelectedImageType = 'templateid'
+    context.selectedImageId = 'external-template'
+
+    OsBasedImageSelection.watch.selectedImageType.call(context, 'isoid')
+
+    expect(context.localSelectedImageType).toBe('isoid')
+    expect(emit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'update-image',
+      'hypervisor',
+      fallbackHypervisor
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('preserves a modern explicit ISO hypervisor after selecting another ISO', () => {
+    const selector = selectors[0]
+    const { context, emit } = createContext(selector)
+    context.localSelectedImageType = 'templateid'
+    context.selectedImageId = 'external-template'
+
+    OsBasedImageSelection.watch.selectedImageType.call(context, 'isoid')
+    emit.mockClear()
+    selector.component.methods.updateImage.call(
+      context,
+      'isoid',
+      'test-iso'
+    )
+
+    expect(emit.mock.calls).toEqual([
+      ['update-image', 'isoid', 'test-iso']
+    ])
+  })
+
+  it('does not reset a legacy preselected template when it is absent from a refreshed result page', () => {
+    const selector = selectors[1]
+    const refreshedItems = {
+      featured: {
+        count: 1,
+        template: [{ id: 'kvm-template', hypervisor: 'KVM' }]
+      }
+    }
+    const { context, emit } = createContext(selector, refreshedItems, {
+      hypervisor: fallbackHypervisor,
+      templateid: 'xen-template'
+    })
+    context.checkedValue = 'xen-template'
+    context.inputDecorator = 'templateid'
+    context.pagination = false
+    context.filterOpts = [{ id: 'featured' }]
+
+    TemplateIsoSelection.watch.items.handler.call(
+      context,
+      refreshedItems
+    )
+
+    expect(context.checkedValue).toBe('xen-template')
+    expect(emit).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('keeps the exact legacy preselected template after metadata loads', () => {
+    const selector = selectors[1]
+    const { context, emit } = createContext(selector, imageItems, {
+      hypervisor: fallbackHypervisor,
+      templateid: 'second-vmware-template'
+    })
+    context.inputDecorator = 'templateid'
+    context.pagination = false
+    context.filterOpts = [{ id: 'featured' }]
+
+    TemplateIsoSelection.watch.items.handler.call(context, imageItems)
+
+    expect(context.checkedValue).toBe('second-vmware-template')
+    expect(emit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'update-template-iso',
+      'hypervisor',
+      'VMware'
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('re-evaluates a modern selection when the zone fallback arrives', () => {
+    const selector = selectors[0]
+    const { context, emit } = createContext(selector, imageItems, {})
+    context.localSelectedImageType = 'templateid'
+    context.selectedImageId = 'xen-template'
+    context.preFillContent.hypervisor = fallbackHypervisor
+
+    OsBasedImageSelection.watch['preFillContent.hypervisor'].call(context)
+
+    expect(emit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'update-image',
+      'hypervisor',
+      'XenServer'
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('initializes a newly mounted legacy ISO selector with the zone fallback', () => {
+    const selector = selectors[1]
+    const { context, emit } = createContext(selector)
+    context.inputDecorator = 'isoid'
+    context.checkedValue = 'test-iso'
+
+    TemplateIsoSelection.mounted.call(context)
+
+    expect(emit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'update-template-iso',
+      'hypervisor',
+      fallbackHypervisor
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('restores the legacy fallback as soon as image type changes', () => {
+    const selector = selectors[1]
+    const { context, emit } = createContext(selector)
+    context.inputDecorator = 'templateid'
+    context.checkedValue = 'external-template'
+    context.filter = 'query'
+
+    TemplateIsoSelection.watch.inputDecorator.call(
+      context,
+      'isoid',
+      'templateid'
+    )
+
+    expect(context.filter).toBe('')
+    expect(emit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'update-template-iso',
+      'hypervisor',
+      fallbackHypervisor
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('preserves a legacy explicit ISO hypervisor after selecting another ISO', () => {
+    const selector = selectors[1]
+    const { context, emit } = createContext(selector)
+
+    selector.component.methods.updateTemplateIso.call(
+      context,
+      'isoid',
+      'test-iso'
+    )
+
+    expect(emit.mock.calls).toEqual([
+      ['update-template-iso', 'isoid', 'test-iso']
+    ])
+  })
+})