diff --git a/coderd/notifications/enqueuer.go b/coderd/notifications/enqueuer.go
index b93a05aa96a1e..7692bbd85ce07 100644
--- a/coderd/notifications/enqueuer.go
+++ b/coderd/notifications/enqueuer.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package notifications
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"text/template"
@@ -25,6 +26,14 @@ var (
 	ErrDuplicate                         = xerrors.New("duplicate notification")
 )
 
+type InvalidDefaultNotificationMethodError struct {
+	Method string
+}
+
+func (e InvalidDefaultNotificationMethodError) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("given default notification method %q is invalid", e.Method)
+}
+
 type StoreEnqueuer struct {
 	store Store
 	log   slog.Logger
@@ -43,8 +52,13 @@ type StoreEnqueuer struct {
 // NewStoreEnqueuer creates an Enqueuer implementation which can persist notification messages in the store.
 func NewStoreEnqueuer(cfg codersdk.NotificationsConfig, store Store, helpers template.FuncMap, log slog.Logger, clock quartz.Clock) (*StoreEnqueuer, error) {
 	var method database.NotificationMethod
-	if err := method.Scan(cfg.Method.String()); err != nil {
-		return nil, xerrors.Errorf("given notification method %q is invalid", cfg.Method)
+	// TODO(DanielleMaywood):
+	// Currently we do not want to allow setting `inbox` as the default notification method.
+	// As of 2025-03-25, setting this to `inbox` would cause a crash on the deployment
+	// notification settings page. Until we make a future decision on this we want to disallow
+	// setting it.
+	if err := method.Scan(cfg.Method.String()); err != nil || method == database.NotificationMethodInbox {
+		return nil, InvalidDefaultNotificationMethodError{Method: cfg.Method.String()}
 	}
 
 	return &StoreEnqueuer{
diff --git a/coderd/notifications/notifications_test.go b/coderd/notifications/notifications_test.go
index 348185ef516f1..9bf31384234ed 100644
--- a/coderd/notifications/notifications_test.go
+++ b/coderd/notifications/notifications_test.go
@@ -1856,6 +1856,18 @@ func TestNotificationDuplicates(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 }
 
+func TestNotificationMethodCannotDefaultToInbox(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	store, _ := dbtestutil.NewDB(t)
+	logger := testutil.Logger(t)
+
+	cfg := defaultNotificationsConfig(database.NotificationMethodInbox)
+
+	_, err := notifications.NewStoreEnqueuer(cfg, store, defaultHelpers(), logger.Named("enqueuer"), quartz.NewMock(t))
+	require.ErrorIs(t, err, notifications.InvalidDefaultNotificationMethodError{Method: string(database.NotificationMethodInbox)})
+}
+
 func TestNotificationTargetMatrix(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()