diff --git a/vscode/src/language-service/notebook.ts b/vscode/src/language-service/notebook.ts
index eeb05809d3..9a2b6f6e12 100644
--- a/vscode/src/language-service/notebook.ts
+++ b/vscode/src/language-service/notebook.ts
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ function getQSharpConfigMetadata(notebook: vscode.NotebookDocument): object {
     log.trace("found Q# config metadata: " + dataString);
     return JSON.parse(dataString);
   } else {
-    return {};
+    // Default notebooks to unrestricted target profile when no explicit configuration is provided
+    return { targetProfile: "unrestricted" };
   }
 }
diff --git a/vscode/test/suites/language-service/notebook.test.ts b/vscode/test/suites/language-service/notebook.test.ts
index 1f298783ae..e09be71b1e 100644
--- a/vscode/test/suites/language-service/notebook.test.ts
+++ b/vscode/test/suites/language-service/notebook.test.ts
@@ -116,4 +116,45 @@ suite("Q# Notebook Tests", function suite() {
     assert.equal(location.range.start.line, 2);
     assert.equal(location.range.start.character, 10);
   });
+
+  test("Notebook defaults to unrestricted target profile", async () => {
+    const notebook = await vscode.workspace.openNotebookDocument(
+      vscode.Uri.joinPath(
+        workspaceFolderUri,
+        "test-unrestricted-default.ipynb",
+      ),
+    );
+
+    const qsharpCellUri = notebook.cellAt(1).document.uri;
+
+    // Wait for the Q# cell to be detected by the language service
+    await waitForCondition(
+      () =>
+        !!notebook
+          .getCells()
+          .find((cell) => cell.document.languageId === "qsharp"),
+      vscode.workspace.onDidChangeNotebookDocument,
+      2000,
+      "timed out waiting for Q# code cell",
+    );
+
+    // Verify that there are no target profile related diagnostics for unrestricted operations
+    // We use waitForCondition to ensure we give enough time for any diagnostics to appear,
+    // then verify that none of them are target profile related
+    await waitForCondition(
+      () => {
+        const diagnostics = vscode.languages.getDiagnostics(qsharpCellUri);
+        // Filter for target profile related errors - there should be none
+        const profileErrors = diagnostics.filter(
+          (d) =>
+            d.message.includes("dynamic bool") ||
+            d.message.includes("target profile"),
+        );
+        return profileErrors.length === 0;
+      },
+      vscode.languages.onDidChangeDiagnostics,
+      3000,
+      "expected no target profile related diagnostics for unrestricted operations",
+    );
+  });
 });
diff --git a/vscode/test/suites/language-service/test-workspace/test-unrestricted-default.ipynb b/vscode/test/suites/language-service/test-workspace/test-unrestricted-default.ipynb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9716271462
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vscode/test/suites/language-service/test-workspace/test-unrestricted-default.ipynb
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+{
+  "cells": [
+    {
+      "cell_type": "code",
+      "execution_count": null,
+      "id": "1e8e4faa",
+      "metadata": {},
+      "outputs": [],
+      "source": [
+        "import qsharp\n"
+      ]
+    },
+    {
+      "cell_type": "code",
+      "execution_count": null,
+      "id": "1b55e53c",
+      "metadata": {
+        "scrolled": false
+      },
+      "outputs": [],
+      "source": [
+        "%%qsharp\n",
+        "\n",
+        "operation TestUnrestrictedDefault() : Unit {\n",
+        "    use q = Qubit();\n",
+        "    H(q);\n",
+        "    if (M(q) == One) {\n",
+        "        Reset(q);\n",
+        "    } else {\n",
+        "        X(q);\n",
+        "    }\n",
+        "}\n"
+      ]
+    }
+  ],
+  "metadata": {
+    "kernelspec": {
+      "display_name": "Python 3 (ipykernel)",
+      "language": "python",
+      "name": "python3"
+    },
+    "language_info": {
+      "codemirror_mode": {
+        "name": "ipython",
+        "version": 3
+      },
+      "file_extension": ".py",
+      "mimetype": "text/x-python",
+      "name": "python",
+      "nbconvert_exporter": "python",
+      "pygments_lexer": "ipython3",
+      "version": "3.11.4"
+    }
+  },
+  "nbformat": 4,
+  "nbformat_minor": 5
+}
\ No newline at end of file