diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9915aa8..d3e8ead 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -287,9 +287,9 @@ PIPER_SPEAKER_ID_ES=
 but new deployments should prefer `PIPER_MODEL_PATH_EN` and
 `PIPER_MODEL_PATH_ES`. If the requested language-specific model is missing, the
 agent logs the actual fallback source, for example
-`piper_voice_source=piper_model_path_es_fallback`. On the CPU demo image, that
-means English text can temporarily fall back to the bundled Spanish voice until
-an English Piper model is added through `PIPER_MODEL_PATH_EN`.
+`piper_voice_source=piper_model_path_es_fallback`. The CPU deployment image is
+expected to include both the Spanish and English Piper models and should set
+`PIPER_MODEL_PATH_EN` to the English model path.
 
 A site can override the full session instructions through LiveKit room metadata
 (`agent_prompt`) or future site configuration. Code, comments, tests, and public
diff --git a/src/config.py b/src/config.py
index 4668129..8c5ad53 100644
--- a/src/config.py
+++ b/src/config.py
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
         description="Optional legacy language-agnostic Piper ONNX voice fallback",
     )
     piper_model_path_en: str | None = Field(
-        default=None,
+        default="/srv/piper/voices/en_US-lessac-medium.onnx",
         description="Optional Piper ONNX voice model for English agent voice",
     )
     piper_model_path_es: str | None = Field(
diff --git a/tests/test_local_providers.py b/tests/test_local_providers.py
index ddc3673..ffd5563 100644
--- a/tests/test_local_providers.py
+++ b/tests/test_local_providers.py
@@ -141,6 +141,18 @@ def test_piper_voice_selection_settings_are_available(self):
         assert s.piper_speaker_id_en == 1
         assert s.deepgram_enable_diarization is True
 
+    def test_piper_english_voice_has_image_default(self):
+        s = Settings(
+            livekit_url="ws://localhost:7880",
+            livekit_api_key="k",
+            livekit_api_secret="s",
+            tts_provider="piper",
+            llm_provider="ollama",
+            stt_provider="whisper",
+        )
+
+        assert s.piper_model_path_en == "/srv/piper/voices/en_US-lessac-medium.onnx"
+
 
 class TestFullLocalStack:
     def test_all_local_no_api_keys(self, monkeypatch):