diff --git a/packages/jupyter-ai/jupyter_ai/config_manager.py b/packages/jupyter-ai/jupyter_ai/config_manager.py
index 63bb003f8..82ef03126 100644
--- a/packages/jupyter-ai/jupyter_ai/config_manager.py
+++ b/packages/jupyter-ai/jupyter_ai/config_manager.py
@@ -147,52 +147,52 @@ def _init_validator(self) -> Validator:
 
     def _init_config(self):
         if os.path.exists(self.config_path):
-            with open(self.config_path, encoding="utf-8") as f:
-                config = GlobalConfig(**json.loads(f.read()))
-                lm_id = config.model_provider_id
-                em_id = config.embeddings_provider_id
-
-                # if the currently selected language or embedding model are
-                # forbidden, set them to `None` and log a warning.
-                if lm_id is not None and not self._validate_model(
-                    lm_id, raise_exc=False
-                ):
-                    self.log.warning(
-                        f"Language model {lm_id} is forbidden by current allow/blocklists. Setting to None."
-                    )
-                    config.model_provider_id = None
-                if em_id is not None and not self._validate_model(
-                    em_id, raise_exc=False
-                ):
-                    self.log.warning(
-                        f"Embedding model {em_id} is forbidden by current allow/blocklists. Setting to None."
-                    )
-                    config.embeddings_provider_id = None
-
-                # if the currently selected language or embedding model ids are
-                # not associated with models, set them to `None` and log a warning.
-                if (
-                    lm_id is not None
-                    and not get_lm_provider(lm_id, self._lm_providers)[1]
-                ):
-                    self.log.warning(
-                        f"No language model is associated with '{lm_id}'. Setting to None."
-                    )
-                    config.model_provider_id = None
-                if (
-                    em_id is not None
-                    and not get_em_provider(em_id, self._em_providers)[1]
-                ):
-                    self.log.warning(
-                        f"No embedding model is associated with '{em_id}'. Setting to None."
-                    )
-                    config.embeddings_provider_id = None
-
-                # re-write to the file to validate the config and apply any
-                # updates to the config file immediately
-                self._write_config(config)
-            return
+            self._process_existing_config()
+        else:
+            self._create_default_config()
 
+    def _process_existing_config(self):
+        with open(self.config_path, encoding="utf-8") as f:
+            config = GlobalConfig(**json.loads(f.read()))
+            validated_config = self._validate_lm_em_id(config)
+
+            # re-write to the file to validate the config and apply any
+            # updates to the config file immediately
+            self._write_config(validated_config)
+
+    def _validate_lm_em_id(self, config):
+        lm_id = config.model_provider_id
+        em_id = config.embeddings_provider_id
+
+        # if the currently selected language or embedding model are
+        # forbidden, set them to `None` and log a warning.
+        if lm_id is not None and not self._validate_model(lm_id, raise_exc=False):
+            self.log.warning(
+                f"Language model {lm_id} is forbidden by current allow/blocklists. Setting to None."
+            )
+            config.model_provider_id = None
+        if em_id is not None and not self._validate_model(em_id, raise_exc=False):
+            self.log.warning(
+                f"Embedding model {em_id} is forbidden by current allow/blocklists. Setting to None."
+            )
+            config.embeddings_provider_id = None
+
+        # if the currently selected language or embedding model ids are
+        # not associated with models, set them to `None` and log a warning.
+        if lm_id is not None and not get_lm_provider(lm_id, self._lm_providers)[1]:
+            self.log.warning(
+                f"No language model is associated with '{lm_id}'. Setting to None."
+            )
+            config.model_provider_id = None
+        if em_id is not None and not get_em_provider(em_id, self._em_providers)[1]:
+            self.log.warning(
+                f"No embedding model is associated with '{em_id}'. Setting to None."
+            )
+            config.embeddings_provider_id = None
+
+        return config
+
+    def _create_default_config(self):
         properties = self.validator.schema.get("properties", {})
         field_list = GlobalConfig.__fields__.keys()
         field_dict = {