diff --git a/docs/environment-variables.md b/docs/environment-variables.md
index c7892bd05..3c89143a5 100644
--- a/docs/environment-variables.md
+++ b/docs/environment-variables.md
@@ -287,7 +287,6 @@ Extra conditional behavior:
 | `OLLAMA_BASE_URL`            | Default implicit Ollama discovery base URL override (`http://127.0.0.1:11434` if unset)            |
 | `LLAMA_CPP_BASE_URL`         | Default implicit Llama.cpp discovery base URL override (`http://127.0.0.1:8080` if unset)          |
 | `PI_EDIT_VARIANT`            | Forces edit tool variant when valid (`patch`, `replace`, `hashline`, `atom`, `vim`, `apply_patch`) |
-| `PI_STRICT_EDIT_MODE`        | If truthy, disables automatic edit-mode fallback                                                   |
 | `PI_FORCE_IMAGE_PROTOCOL`    | Forces supported image protocol (`kitty`, `iterm2`/`iterm`, `sixel`, `none`) where used            |
 | `PI_ALLOW_SIXEL_PASSTHROUGH` | Allows SIXEL passthrough when `PI_FORCE_IMAGE_PROTOCOL=sixel`                                      |
 | `PI_NO_PTY`                  | If `1`, disables interactive PTY path for bash tool                                                |
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/utils/edit-mode.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/utils/edit-mode.ts
index 515a47d1a..eb20a0cba 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/utils/edit-mode.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/utils/edit-mode.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { $env, $flag } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-utils";
+import { $env } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-utils";
 
 export type EditMode = "replace" | "patch" | "hashline" | "vim" | "apply_patch" | "atom";
 
@@ -38,13 +38,11 @@ export function resolveEditMode(session: EditModeSessionLike): EditMode {
 	const envMode = normalizeEditMode($env.PI_EDIT_VARIANT);
 	if (envMode) return envMode;
 
-	if (!$flag("PI_STRICT_EDIT_MODE")) {
-		if (activeModel?.includes("spark")) return "apply_patch";
-		if (activeModel?.includes("nano")) return "replace";
-		if (activeModel?.includes("mini")) return "replace";
-		if (activeModel?.includes("haiku")) return "replace";
-		if (activeModel?.includes("flash")) return "replace";
-	}
+	if (activeModel?.includes("spark")) return "apply_patch";
+	if (activeModel?.includes("nano")) return "replace";
+	if (activeModel?.includes("mini")) return "replace";
+	if (activeModel?.includes("haiku")) return "replace";
+	if (activeModel?.includes("flash")) return "replace";
 
 	const settingsMode = normalizeEditMode(String(session.settings.get("edit.mode") ?? ""));
 	return settingsMode ?? DEFAULT_EDIT_MODE;
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/test/edit-mode.test.ts b/packages/coding-agent/test/edit-mode.test.ts
index 80be6f54a..0da79f516 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/test/edit-mode.test.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/test/edit-mode.test.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import { afterEach, describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
 import { type EditMode, type EditModeSessionLike, resolveEditMode } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-coding-agent/utils/edit-mode";
 
 const originalEditVariant = Bun.env.PI_EDIT_VARIANT;
-const originalStrictEditMode = Bun.env.PI_STRICT_EDIT_MODE;
 
 function restoreEnv(): void {
 	if (originalEditVariant === undefined) {
@@ -10,11 +9,6 @@ function restoreEnv(): void {
 	} else {
 		Bun.env.PI_EDIT_VARIANT = originalEditVariant;
 	}
-	if (originalStrictEditMode === undefined) {
-		delete Bun.env.PI_STRICT_EDIT_MODE;
-	} else {
-		Bun.env.PI_STRICT_EDIT_MODE = originalStrictEditMode;
-	}
 }
 
 function createSession(args: {
@@ -38,26 +32,23 @@ describe("resolveEditMode", () => {
 
 	test("defaults Spark models to apply_patch mode", () => {
 		delete Bun.env.PI_EDIT_VARIANT;
-		delete Bun.env.PI_STRICT_EDIT_MODE;
 
 		expect(resolveEditMode(createSession({ activeModel: "openai-codex/gpt-5.3-codex-spark" }))).toBe("apply_patch");
 	});
 
 	test("keeps explicit model variants ahead of Spark fallback", () => {
 		delete Bun.env.PI_EDIT_VARIANT;
-		delete Bun.env.PI_STRICT_EDIT_MODE;
 
 		expect(
 			resolveEditMode(createSession({ activeModel: "openai-codex/gpt-5.3-codex-spark", modelVariant: "replace" })),
 		).toBe("replace");
 	});
 
-	test("strict edit mode disables Spark fallback", () => {
+	test("keeps model-specific fallbacks ahead of settings mode", () => {
 		delete Bun.env.PI_EDIT_VARIANT;
-		Bun.env.PI_STRICT_EDIT_MODE = "1";
 
 		expect(
 			resolveEditMode(createSession({ activeModel: "openai-codex/gpt-5.3-codex-spark", settingsMode: "hashline" })),
-		).toBe("hashline");
+		).toBe("apply_patch");
 	});
 });
diff --git a/scripts/edit-benchmark.py b/scripts/edit-benchmark.py
index 86d1926dc..6ed967d8c 100755
--- a/scripts/edit-benchmark.py
+++ b/scripts/edit-benchmark.py
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ def build_spec(variant: str) -> BenchmarkSpec:
 		description=f"Benchmark edit tool in {variant} mode across models with simple edit tasks.",
 		workspace_prefix=f"{variant}-benchmark",
 		tools=("edit", "read"),
-		env={"PI_EDIT_VARIANT": variant, "PI_STRICT_EDIT_MODE": "1"},
+		env={"PI_EDIT_VARIANT": variant},
 		initial_prompt=prompt,
 		retry_instruction=retry,
 	)
diff --git a/scripts/rate-edit-tool.py b/scripts/rate-edit-tool.py
index 0142dc330..915ed2f74 100755
--- a/scripts/rate-edit-tool.py
+++ b/scripts/rate-edit-tool.py
@@ -1632,7 +1632,6 @@ def run_model_sync(
             executable=omp_bin,
             model=model,
             cwd=workspace,
-            env={"PI_STRICT_EDIT_MODE": "1"},
             thinking="high",
             tools=TOOL_WHITELIST,
             no_skills=True,
@@ -1852,7 +1851,6 @@ def run_oracle_review_sync(
         executable=omp_bin,
         model=model,
         cwd=results_dir,
-        env={"PI_STRICT_EDIT_MODE": "1"},
         thinking="high",
         tools=(),
         no_skills=True,