diff --git a/libs/ardour/ardour/session_configuration_vars.h b/libs/ardour/ardour/session_configuration_vars.h
index 0b59a49423..2a48fbb264 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/ardour/session_configuration_vars.h
+++ b/libs/ardour/ardour/session_configuration_vars.h
@@ -91,4 +91,8 @@ CONFIG_VARIABLE (bool, show_monitor_on_meterbridge, "show-monitor-on-meterbridge
 CONFIG_VARIABLE (bool, show_name_on_meterbridge, "show-name-on-meterbridge", true)
 CONFIG_VARIABLE (bool, show_fader_on_meterbridge, "show-fader-on-meterbridge", false)
 CONFIG_VARIABLE (uint32_t, meterbridge_label_height,  "meterbridge-label-height", 0)
-CONFIG_VARIABLE (Temporal::TimeDomain, default_time_domain, "default-time-domain", Temporal::AudioTime)
+
+/* If the user changes the session default_time_domain, we also stash that in rc_config as a global preference,
+     where it is used to initialize the session timebase menu during new session creation
+*/
+CONFIG_VARIABLE (Temporal::TimeDomain, default_time_domain, "default-time-domain", Temporal::BeatTime)