diff --git a/src/boot/boot.c b/src/boot/boot.c
index 4ef519d4040..759f0f9ea33 100644
--- a/src/boot/boot.c
+++ b/src/boot/boot.c
@@ -1783,13 +1783,13 @@ static void config_select_default_entry(Config *config) {
         assert(config);
 
         i = config_find_entry(config, config->entry_oneshot);
-        if (i != IDX_INVALID) {
+        if (i != IDX_INVALID || config->entries[i]->tries_left != 0) {
                 config->idx_default = i;
                 return;
         }
 
         i = config_find_entry(config, config->use_saved_entry_efivar ? config->entry_saved : config->entry_default_efivar);
-        if (i != IDX_INVALID) {
+        if (i != IDX_INVALID || config->entries[i]->tries_left != 0) {
                 config->idx_default = i;
                 config->idx_default_efivar = i;
                 return;
@@ -1800,14 +1800,14 @@ static void config_select_default_entry(Config *config) {
                 i = config->use_saved_entry_efivar ? IDX_INVALID : config_find_entry(config, config->entry_saved);
         else
                 i = config_find_entry(config, config->entry_default_config);
-        if (i != IDX_INVALID) {
+        if (i != IDX_INVALID || config->entries[i]->tries_left != 0) {
                 config->idx_default = i;
                 return;
         }
 
         /* select the first suitable entry */
         for (i = 0; i < config->n_entries; i++)
-                if (config->entries[i]->type != LOADER_AUTO && !config->entries[i]->call) {
+                if (config->entries[i]->type != LOADER_AUTO && !config->entries[i]->call && config->entries[i]->tries_left != 0) {
                         config->idx_default = i;
                         return;
                 }