diff --git a/desktop/src/features/workflows/ui/ChannelCombobox.tsx b/desktop/src/features/workflows/ui/ChannelCombobox.tsx
index 5eb0eb586..a3ea4730f 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/workflows/ui/ChannelCombobox.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/workflows/ui/ChannelCombobox.tsx
@@ -177,7 +177,12 @@ export function ChannelCombobox({
           <button
             aria-disabled="true"
             aria-label={`${ariaLabel}: ${selectedLabel}. Read only.`}
-            className="flex w-full cursor-default items-center justify-center rounded-lg px-3 py-2 text-lg font-semibold text-foreground focus-visible:outline-hidden focus-visible:ring-1 focus-visible:ring-ring"
+            className={cn(
+              "flex w-full cursor-default items-center rounded-lg px-3 py-2 text-foreground focus-visible:outline-hidden focus-visible:ring-1 focus-visible:ring-ring",
+              variant === "header" &&
+                "justify-center border-0 bg-transparent text-lg font-semibold",
+              variant === "field" && "text-sm font-normal",
+            )}
             id={id}
             type="button"
           >
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/workflows/ui/WorkflowDialog.tsx b/desktop/src/features/workflows/ui/WorkflowDialog.tsx
index 732785099..0e4ad3406 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/workflows/ui/WorkflowDialog.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/workflows/ui/WorkflowDialog.tsx
@@ -453,7 +453,7 @@ export function WorkflowDialog({
                   <div className="space-y-1">
                     <ChannelCombobox
                       channels={channels}
-                      defaultOpen={mode === "create"}
+                      defaultOpen={mode === "create" && editorMode === "form"}
                       disabled={mutation.isPending}
                       id="wf-channel-select"
                       onChange={(value) => {
@@ -462,6 +462,7 @@ export function WorkflowDialog({
                         if (value) onEditorPaneChange({ type: "trigger" });
                       }}
                       required
+                      variant={editorMode === "yaml" ? "field" : "header"}
                       value={selectedChannelId}
                     />
                     {channels.length === 0 ? (
@@ -476,6 +477,7 @@ export function WorkflowDialog({
                     id="wf-channel-select"
                     onChange={setSelectedChannelId}
                     readOnly
+                    variant={editorMode === "yaml" ? "field" : "header"}
                     value={selectedChannel.id}
                   />
                 ) : null