diff --git a/src/bootstrap/bootstrap_test.py b/src/bootstrap/bootstrap_test.py
index 6717eb21012..26bd80a008f 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/bootstrap_test.py
+++ b/src/bootstrap/bootstrap_test.py
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ class GenerateAndParseConfig(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_no_args(self):
         build = self.serialize_and_parse([])
         self.assertEqual(build.get_toml("changelog-seen"), '2')
+        self.assertEqual(build.get_toml("profile"), 'user')
         self.assertIsNone(build.get_toml("llvm.download-ci-llvm"))
 
     def test_set_section(self):
diff --git a/src/bootstrap/configure.py b/src/bootstrap/configure.py
index 5937d5a8cdd..7cc952b5c56 100755
--- a/src/bootstrap/configure.py
+++ b/src/bootstrap/configure.py
@@ -417,6 +417,8 @@ def parse_example_config(known_args, config):
         # Avoid using quotes unless it's necessary.
         targets[target][0] = targets[target][0].replace("x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu", "'{}'".format(target) if "." in target else target)
 
+    if 'profile' not in config:
+        set('profile', 'user', config)
     configure_file(sections, top_level_keys, targets, config)
     return section_order, sections, targets