diff --git a/src/ProjectConfig.cpp b/src/ProjectConfig.cpp
index 485ae767..3be4cfe4 100644
--- a/src/ProjectConfig.cpp
+++ b/src/ProjectConfig.cpp
@@ -204,9 +204,7 @@ TargetConfig::TargetConfig(const YAML::Node& targetNode) {
     }
 
     if (targetNode["reserveSteppingBreakpoint"]) {
-        this->reserveSteppingBreakpoint = targetNode["reserveSteppingBreakpoint"].as<bool>(
-            this->reserveSteppingBreakpoint
-        );
+        this->reserveSteppingBreakpoint = targetNode["reserveSteppingBreakpoint"].as<bool>(false);
     }
 
     this->targetNode = targetNode;
diff --git a/src/ProjectConfig.hpp b/src/ProjectConfig.hpp
index a66693a4..bda75a61 100644
--- a/src/ProjectConfig.hpp
+++ b/src/ProjectConfig.hpp
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ struct TargetConfig
     /**
      * Determines if Bloom will reserve a single hardware breakpoint for stepping operations.
      */
-    bool reserveSteppingBreakpoint = true;
+    std::optional<bool> reserveSteppingBreakpoint = std::nullopt;
 
     /**
      * For extracting any target specific configuration. See Avr8TargetConfig::Avr8TargetConfig() and
diff --git a/src/Targets/Microchip/AVR8/Avr8.cpp b/src/Targets/Microchip/AVR8/Avr8.cpp
index 037237c0..11f8547b 100644
--- a/src/Targets/Microchip/AVR8/Avr8.cpp
+++ b/src/Targets/Microchip/AVR8/Avr8.cpp
@@ -819,7 +819,7 @@ namespace Targets::Microchip::Avr8
             maxHardwareBreakpoints,
             std::nullopt,
             std::min(
-                static_cast<std::uint16_t>(this->targetConfig.reserveSteppingBreakpoint ? 1 : 0),
+                static_cast<std::uint16_t>(this->targetConfig.reserveSteppingBreakpoint.value_or(true) ? 1 : 0),
                 maxHardwareBreakpoints
             )
         };
diff --git a/src/Targets/RiscV/Wch/WchRiscV.cpp b/src/Targets/RiscV/Wch/WchRiscV.cpp
index ff9dfdb9..6383d6f0 100644
--- a/src/Targets/RiscV/Wch/WchRiscV.cpp
+++ b/src/Targets/RiscV/Wch/WchRiscV.cpp
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ namespace Targets::RiscV::Wch
                 hardwareBreakpointCount,
                 std::nullopt,
                 static_cast<std::uint16_t>(
-                    this->targetConfig.reserveSteppingBreakpoint && hardwareBreakpointCount > 0 ? 1 : 0
+                    this->targetConfig.reserveSteppingBreakpoint.value_or(false) && hardwareBreakpointCount > 0 ? 1 : 0
                 )
             }
         };