diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/widget_preview.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/widget_preview.dart
index 2b52cb458c..74dfc2b90e 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/widget_preview.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/widget_preview.dart
@@ -129,8 +129,8 @@ final class WidgetPreviewStartCommand extends WidgetPreviewSubCommandBase with C
         hide: !verboseHelp,
       )
       ..addFlag(
-        kUseFlutterWeb,
-        help: 'Launches the widget preview environment using Flutter Web.',
+        kUseFlutterDesktop,
+        help: '(deprecated) Launches the widget preview environment using Flutter Desktop.',
         hide: !verboseHelp,
       )
       ..addFlag(
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ final class WidgetPreviewStartCommand extends WidgetPreviewSubCommandBase with C
 
   static const String kWidgetPreviewScaffoldName = 'widget_preview_scaffold';
   static const String kLaunchPreviewer = 'launch-previewer';
-  static const String kUseFlutterWeb = 'web';
+  static const String kUseFlutterDesktop = 'desktop';
   static const String kHeadlessWeb = 'headless-web';
 
   @override
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ final class WidgetPreviewStartCommand extends WidgetPreviewSubCommandBase with C
 
   final bool verboseHelp;
 
-  bool get isWeb => boolArg(kUseFlutterWeb);
+  bool get isWeb => !boolArg(kUseFlutterDesktop);
 
   @override
   final FileSystem fs;
@@ -428,6 +428,9 @@ final class WidgetPreviewStartCommand extends WidgetPreviewSubCommandBase with C
       const String? kEmptyRoute = null;
       const bool kEnableHotReload = true;
 
+      // WARNING: this log message is used by test/integration.shard/widget_preview_test.dart
+      logger.printStatus('Launching the Widget Preview Scaffold...');
+
       app = await Daemon.createMachineDaemon().appDomain.startApp(
         device,
         widgetPreviewScaffoldProject.directory.path,
@@ -446,7 +449,7 @@ final class WidgetPreviewStartCommand extends WidgetPreviewSubCommandBase with C
               widgetPreviewScaffoldProject.packageConfig.uri,
             ),
           ),
-          webEnableExposeUrl: false, // TODO(bkonyi): verify
+          webEnableExposeUrl: false,
           webRunHeadless: boolArg(kHeadlessWeb),
         ),
         kEnableHotReload, // hot mode
@@ -457,11 +460,14 @@ final class WidgetPreviewStartCommand extends WidgetPreviewSubCommandBase with C
     } on Exception catch (error) {
       throwToolExit(error.toString());
     }
-    // Immediately perform a hot restart to ensure new previews are loaded into the prebuilt
-    // application.
-    // WARNING: this log message is used by test/integration.shard/widget_preview_test.dart
-    logger.printStatus('Loading previews into the Widget Preview Scaffold...');
-    await app.restart(fullRestart: true);
+
+    if (!isWeb) {
+      // Immediately perform a hot restart to ensure new previews are loaded into the prebuilt
+      // application.
+      // WARNING: this log message is used by test/integration.shard/widget_preview_test.dart
+      logger.printStatus('Loading previews into the Widget Preview Scaffold...');
+      await app.restart(fullRestart: true);
+    }
     // WARNING: this log message is used by test/integration.shard/widget_preview_test.dart
     logger.printStatus('Done loading previews.');
     return app;
diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/test/integration.shard/widget_preview_test.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/test/integration.shard/widget_preview_test.dart
index 77f9fb7133..14cfc1c6ae 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/test/integration.shard/widget_preview_test.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/test/integration.shard/widget_preview_test.dart
@@ -18,18 +18,25 @@ const List<String> firstLaunchMessages = <String>[
   'Creating widget preview scaffolding at:',
   'Performing initial build of the Widget Preview Scaffold...',
   'Widget Preview Scaffold initial build complete.',
+  'Launching the Widget Preview Scaffold...',
   'Loading previews into the Widget Preview Scaffold...',
   'Done loading previews.',
 ];
 
 const List<String> subsequentLaunchMessages = <String>[
+  'Launching the Widget Preview Scaffold...',
   'Loading previews into the Widget Preview Scaffold...',
   'Done loading previews.',
 ];
 
 const List<String> firstLaunchMessagesWeb = <String>[
   'Creating widget preview scaffolding at:',
-  'Loading previews into the Widget Preview Scaffold...',
+  'Launching the Widget Preview Scaffold...',
+  'Done loading previews.',
+];
+
+const List<String> subsequentLaunchMessagesWeb = <String>[
+  'Launching the Widget Preview Scaffold...',
   'Done loading previews.',
 ];
 
@@ -61,10 +68,10 @@ void main() {
       'widget-preview',
       'start',
       '--verbose',
-      if (useWeb) ...<String>[
-        '--${WidgetPreviewStartCommand.kUseFlutterWeb}',
-        '--${WidgetPreviewStartCommand.kHeadlessWeb}',
-      ],
+      if (useWeb)
+        '--${WidgetPreviewStartCommand.kHeadlessWeb}'
+      else
+        '--${WidgetPreviewStartCommand.kUseFlutterDesktop}',
     ], workingDirectory: tempDir.path);
 
     final Completer<void> completer = Completer<void>();
@@ -123,7 +130,7 @@ void main() {
       await runWidgetPreview(expectedMessages: firstLaunchMessagesWeb, useWeb: true);
 
       // We shouldn't regenerate the scaffold after the initial run.
-      await runWidgetPreview(expectedMessages: subsequentLaunchMessages, useWeb: true);
+      await runWidgetPreview(expectedMessages: subsequentLaunchMessagesWeb, useWeb: true);
     });
   });
 }