diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/tool/task.ts b/packages/opencode/src/tool/task.ts
index 46253a24ce..ad5872cab9 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/src/tool/task.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/tool/task.ts
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ export const TaskTool = Tool.define(
       const msg = yield* Effect.sync(() => MessageV2.get({ sessionID: ctx.sessionID, messageID: ctx.messageID }))
       if (msg.info.role !== "assistant") return yield* Effect.fail(new Error("Not an assistant message"))
 
-      const smallModel = next.model ? undefined : yield* provider.getSmallModel(msg.info.providerID)
+      const smallModel = !next.model && next.name === "explore" ? yield* provider.getSmallModel(msg.info.providerID) : undefined
       const model = next.model ?? {
         modelID: smallModel?.id ?? msg.info.modelID,
         providerID: smallModel?.providerID ?? msg.info.providerID,
diff --git a/packages/opencode/test/tool/task.test.ts b/packages/opencode/test/tool/task.test.ts
index c2c0edf31d..b3b7a60a05 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/test/tool/task.test.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/test/tool/task.test.ts
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ describe("tool.task", () => {
     ),
   )
 
-  it.live("execute defaults subagents to the provider small model", () =>
+  it.live("execute defaults explore agents to the provider small model", () =>
     provideTmpdirInstance(
       () =>
         Effect.gen(function* () {
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ describe("tool.task", () => {
             {
               description: "inspect bug",
               prompt: "look into the cache key path",
-              subagent_type: "general",
+              subagent_type: "explore",
             },
             {
               sessionID: chat.id,