diff --git a/src/agents/realtime/session.py b/src/agents/realtime/session.py
index c309a2655..37caea9a7 100644
--- a/src/agents/realtime/session.py
+++ b/src/agents/realtime/session.py
@@ -622,9 +622,6 @@ async def _get_updated_model_settings_from_agent(
         # Start with run config model settings as base
         run_config_settings = self._run_config.get("model_settings", {})
         updated_settings: RealtimeSessionModelSettings = run_config_settings.copy()
-        # Apply starting settings (from model config) next
-        if starting_settings:
-            updated_settings.update(starting_settings)
 
         instructions, tools, handoffs = await asyncio.gather(
             agent.get_system_prompt(self._context_wrapper),
@@ -635,6 +632,10 @@ async def _get_updated_model_settings_from_agent(
         updated_settings["tools"] = tools or []
         updated_settings["handoffs"] = handoffs or []
 
+        # Apply starting settings (from model config) next
+        if starting_settings:
+            updated_settings.update(starting_settings)
+
         disable_tracing = self._run_config.get("tracing_disabled", False)
         if disable_tracing:
             updated_settings["tracing"] = None