diff --git a/homeassistant/components/cloud/prefs.py b/homeassistant/components/cloud/prefs.py
index 9fce615128b..72207513ca9 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/cloud/prefs.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/cloud/prefs.py
@@ -365,13 +365,16 @@ class CloudPreferences:
     @property
     def strict_connection(self) -> http.const.StrictConnectionMode:
         """Return the strict connection mode."""
-        mode = self._prefs.get(
-            PREF_STRICT_CONNECTION, http.const.StrictConnectionMode.DISABLED
-        )
+        mode = self._prefs.get(PREF_STRICT_CONNECTION)
 
-        if not isinstance(mode, http.const.StrictConnectionMode):
+        if mode is None:
+            # Set to default value
+            # We store None in the store as the default value to detect if the user has changed the
+            # value or not.
+            mode = http.const.StrictConnectionMode.DISABLED
+        elif not isinstance(mode, http.const.StrictConnectionMode):
             mode = http.const.StrictConnectionMode(mode)
-        return mode  # type: ignore[no-any-return]
+        return mode
 
     async def get_cloud_user(self) -> str:
         """Return ID of Home Assistant Cloud system user."""
@@ -430,5 +433,5 @@ class CloudPreferences:
             PREF_REMOTE_DOMAIN: None,
             PREF_REMOTE_ALLOW_REMOTE_ENABLE: True,
             PREF_USERNAME: username,
-            PREF_STRICT_CONNECTION: http.const.StrictConnectionMode.DISABLED,
+            PREF_STRICT_CONNECTION: None,
         }
diff --git a/tests/components/cloud/test_prefs.py b/tests/components/cloud/test_prefs.py
index 1ed2e1d524f..57715fe2bdf 100644
--- a/tests/components/cloud/test_prefs.py
+++ b/tests/components/cloud/test_prefs.py
@@ -197,3 +197,21 @@ async def test_strict_connection_convertion(
     await hass.async_block_till_done()
 
     assert cloud.client.prefs.strict_connection is mode
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("storage_data", [{}, {PREF_STRICT_CONNECTION: None}])
+async def test_strict_connection_default(
+    hass: HomeAssistant,
+    cloud: MagicMock,
+    hass_storage: dict[str, Any],
+    storage_data: dict[str, Any],
+) -> None:
+    """Test strict connection default values."""
+    hass_storage[STORAGE_KEY] = {
+        "version": 1,
+        "data": storage_data,
+    }
+    assert await async_setup_component(hass, DOMAIN, {DOMAIN: {}})
+    await hass.async_block_till_done()
+
+    assert cloud.client.prefs.strict_connection is StrictConnectionMode.DISABLED