diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/get-package-manager.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/get-package-manager.ts
index 012f27b88..f5e8e12c9 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/get-package-manager.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/get-package-manager.ts
@@ -4,14 +4,6 @@ import process from "node:process";
 import { findUp } from "find-up";
 
 export async function getPackageManager(targetDir: string) {
-	const userAgent = process.env.npm_config_user_agent;
-	if (userAgent) {
-		// try to determine the PM via the user agent first
-		if (userAgent === undefined) return "npm";
-		if (userAgent.startsWith("yarn")) return "yarn";
-		if (userAgent.startsWith("pnpm")) return "pnpm";
-	}
-
 	const packageManager = await detect(targetDir);
 
 	if (packageManager === "yarn@berry") return "yarn";
@@ -20,6 +12,12 @@ export async function getPackageManager(targetDir: string) {
 	// ni successfully detected a PM
 	if (packageManager !== null) return packageManager;
 
+	// ni couldn't find a lockfile, so we'll try to determine the PM via the user agent
+	const userAgent = process.env.npm_config_user_agent;
+	if (userAgent === undefined) return "npm";
+	if (userAgent.startsWith("yarn")) return "yarn";
+	if (userAgent.startsWith("pnpm")) return "pnpm";
+
 	// default to npm as the last resort
 	return "npm";
 }