diff --git a/packages/theme/src/cli/utilities/theme-command.test.ts b/packages/theme/src/cli/utilities/theme-command.test.ts
index 289eb330446..7af98289585 100644
--- a/packages/theme/src/cli/utilities/theme-command.test.ts
+++ b/packages/theme/src/cli/utilities/theme-command.test.ts
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ describe('ThemeCommand', () => {
       })
     })
 
-    test('uses a matching store auth cache session when stored scopes are empty', async () => {
+    test('falls back to theme authentication when the stored session has no recorded scopes', async () => {
       vi.mocked(getCurrentStoredStoreAppSession).mockReturnValue({
         store: 'test-store.myshopify.com',
         clientId: 'store-auth-client-id',
@@ -371,10 +371,8 @@ describe('ThemeCommand', () => {
 
       await command.run()
 
-      expect(ensureAuthenticatedThemes).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
-      expect(command.commandCalls[0]).toMatchObject({
-        session: {token: 'shpat_preview_token', storeFqdn: 'test-store.myshopify.com'},
-      })
+      expect(ensureAuthenticatedThemes).toHaveBeenCalledWith('test-store.myshopify.com', undefined)
+      expect(command.commandCalls[0]).toMatchObject({session: mockSession})
     })
 
     test('falls back to theme authentication when matching store auth session lacks required scopes', async () => {
diff --git a/packages/theme/src/cli/utilities/theme-command.ts b/packages/theme/src/cli/utilities/theme-command.ts
index c31f79ca0ec..aebe3c48c89 100644
--- a/packages/theme/src/cli/utilities/theme-command.ts
+++ b/packages/theme/src/cli/utilities/theme-command.ts
@@ -447,8 +447,6 @@ export default abstract class ThemeCommand extends Command {
   }
 
   private hasRequiredStoreAuthScopes(sessionScopes: string[], requiredScopes: string[]): boolean {
-    if (sessionScopes.length === 0) return true
-
     const expandedScopes = this.expandImpliedStoreAuthScopes(sessionScopes)
     return requiredScopes.every((scope) => expandedScopes.has(scope))
   }