diff --git a/R/utils_plot.R b/R/utils_plot.R
index a7ddac99..278ed8b7 100644
--- a/R/utils_plot.R
+++ b/R/utils_plot.R
@@ -766,6 +766,7 @@ filter_data <- function(
 
   # Check if there are multiple module_names present
   if (length(unique(plot_data$module_name)) > 1) {
+    module_names <- unique(plot_data$module_name)
     if (!is.null(module)) {
       plot_data <- plot_data |>
         dplyr::filter(
@@ -776,30 +777,31 @@ filter_data <- function(
     } else {
       cli::cli_alert_warning("Multiple module names found in data. \n")
       options <- c()
-      for (i in seq_along(unique(plot_data$module_name))) {
+      for (i in seq_along(module_names)) {
         # options <- paste0(options, " ", i, ") ", unique(plot_data$module_name)[i], "\n")
-        options[i] <- paste0(unique(plot_data$module_name)[i])
+        options[i] <- paste0(module_names[i])
       }
       if (interactive()) {
         if (interactive) {
           question1 <- utils::select.list(
             options,
             multiple = TRUE,
+            preselect = options[1],
             title = "Select one or more of the following module names"
           )
           # use <<- to export module to environment for use with key quantity calc
-          selected_module <<- intersect(
-            unique(plot_data$module_name),
-            question1
-          )
+          selected_module <<- intersect(module_names, question1)
+          if (length(selected_module) < 1) {
+            selected_module <<- module_names[1]
+          }
         } else {
           # use <<- to export module to environment for use with key quantity calc
-          selected_module <<- unique(plot_data$module_name)[1]
+          selected_module <<- module_names[1]
           cli::cli_alert_info("Selection bypassed. Filtering by {selected_module}.")
         }
       } else {
         # use <<- to export module to environment for use with key quantity calc
-        selected_module <<- unique(plot_data$module_name)[1]
+        selected_module <<- module_names[1]
         cli::cli_alert_info(glue::glue("Environment not interactive. Selecting {selected_module}."))
       }
       if (length(selected_module) > 0) {
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-utils_plot.R b/tests/testthat/test-utils_plot.R
index dfe4e857..7ac228cb 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-utils_plot.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-utils_plot.R
@@ -13,6 +13,21 @@ make_utils_plot_data <- function() {
   )
 }
 
+make_utils_plot_multimodule_data <- function() {
+  tibble::tibble(
+    label = c("biomass", "biomass", "biomass", "biomass"),
+    estimate = c(100, 120, 80, 90),
+    module_name = c("TIME_SERIES", "TIME_SERIES", "AGE_SERIES", "AGE_SERIES"),
+    year = c(2000, 2001, 2000, 2001),
+    fleet = c("fleet_a", "fleet_a", "fleet_a", "fleet_a"),
+    age = c(1, 1, 1, 1),
+    season = c("spring", "spring", "spring", "spring"),
+    uncertainty = c(10, 10, 10, 10),
+    uncertainty_label = c("se", "se", "se", "se"),
+    era = c("time", "time", "time", "time")
+  )
+}
+
 test_that("filter_data handles data frames and lists", {
   dat <- make_utils_plot_data()
 
@@ -36,6 +51,37 @@ test_that("filter_data handles data frames and lists", {
   expect_setequal(unique(filtered_list$group_var), c("model_one", "model_two"))
 })
 
+test_that("filter_data uses the first module when selection is empty", {
+  testthat::local_mocked_bindings(
+    interactive = function() TRUE,
+    .package = "base"
+  )
+  testthat::local_mocked_bindings(
+    select.list = function(...) character(0),
+    .package = "utils"
+  )
+
+  filtered <- filter_data(
+    dat = make_utils_plot_multimodule_data(),
+    label_name = "biomass",
+    geom = "line",
+    interactive = TRUE
+  )
+
+  expect_equal(unique(filtered$module_name), "TIME_SERIES")
+})
+
+test_that("filter_data uses the first module in non-interactive mode", {
+  filtered <- filter_data(
+    dat = make_utils_plot_multimodule_data(),
+    label_name = "biomass",
+    geom = "line",
+    interactive = FALSE
+  )
+
+  expect_equal(unique(filtered$module_name), "TIME_SERIES")
+})
+
 test_that("plot_timeseries and plot_error return expected layers", {
   dat <- filter_data(
     dat = make_utils_plot_data(),