diff --git a/lisp/tab-bar.el b/lisp/tab-bar.el
index 6720d82b47..0cf74a7833 100644
--- a/lisp/tab-bar.el
+++ b/lisp/tab-bar.el
@@ -252,6 +252,12 @@ tab-bar-show
          (set-default sym val)
          ;; Preload button images
          (tab-bar-mode 1)
+         ;; New frames have only one tab, so hide it by default
+         (when (eq val 1)
+           (setq default-frame-alist
+              (cons (cons 'tab-bar-lines 0)
+                    (assq-delete-all 'tab-bar-lines
+                                     default-frame-alist))))
          ;; Then handle each frame individually
          (dolist (frame (frame-list))
            (set-frame-parameter