diff --git a/src/browser/app/profile/features/compact-mode.inc b/src/browser/app/profile/features/compact-mode.inc
index f5102c257..38f0ee2ad 100644
--- a/src/browser/app/profile/features/compact-mode.inc
+++ b/src/browser/app/profile/features/compact-mode.inc
@@ -12,3 +12,6 @@ pref('zen.view.compact.color-sidebar', true);
 pref('zen.view.compact.animate-sidebar', true);
 pref('zen.view.compact.show-sidebar-and-toolbar-on-hover', true);
 pref('zen.view.compact.show-background-tab-toast', true);
+
+# Do not edit manually
+pref('zen.view.compact.should-enable-at-startup', false);
diff --git a/src/zen/compact-mode/ZenCompactMode.mjs b/src/zen/compact-mode/ZenCompactMode.mjs
index f7a905f9b..70ba306b0 100644
--- a/src/zen/compact-mode/ZenCompactMode.mjs
+++ b/src/zen/compact-mode/ZenCompactMode.mjs
@@ -36,11 +36,12 @@ var gZenCompactModeManager = {
   preInit() {
     // Remove it before initializing so we can properly calculate the width
     // of the sidebar at startup and avoid overflowing items not being hidden
-    this._wasInCompactMode = Services.xulStore.getValue(
-      AppConstants.BROWSER_CHROME_URL,
-      'zen-main-app-wrapper',
-      'zen-compact-mode'
-    );
+    this._wasInCompactMode =
+      Services.xulStore.getValue(
+        AppConstants.BROWSER_CHROME_URL,
+        'zen-main-app-wrapper',
+        'zen-compact-mode'
+      ) || Services.prefs.getBoolPref('zen.view.compact.should-enable-at-startup', false);
     lazyCompactMode.mainAppWrapper.removeAttribute('zen-compact-mode');
 
     this.addContextMenu();
@@ -106,6 +107,7 @@ var gZenCompactModeManager = {
     lazyCompactMode.mainAppWrapper.setAttribute('zen-compact-mode', value);
     document.documentElement.setAttribute('zen-compact-mode', value);
     Services.xulStore.persist(lazyCompactMode.mainAppWrapper, 'zen-compact-mode');
+    Services.prefs.setBoolPref('zen.view.compact.should-enable-at-startup', value);
     this._updateEvent();
     return value;
   },