diff --git a/src/lib/onboard.ts b/src/lib/onboard.ts
index bcf606e74b3..42a34d1b94f 100644
--- a/src/lib/onboard.ts
+++ b/src/lib/onboard.ts
@@ -6054,7 +6054,7 @@ async function setupNim(
   preferredInferenceApi: string | null;
   nimContainer: string | null;
 }> {
-  step(3, 8, "Configuring inference (NIM)");
+  step(3, 8, "Configuring inference provider");
 
   let model: string | null = null;
   let provider: string = REMOTE_PROVIDER_CONFIG.build.providerName;
@@ -8983,7 +8983,7 @@ function startRecordedStep(
 const ONBOARD_STEP_INDEX: Record<string, { number: number; title: string }> = {
   preflight: { number: 1, title: "Preflight checks" },
   gateway: { number: 2, title: "Starting OpenShell gateway" },
-  provider_selection: { number: 3, title: "Configuring inference (NIM)" },
+  provider_selection: { number: 3, title: "Configuring inference provider" },
   inference: { number: 4, title: "Setting up inference provider" },
   messaging: { number: 5, title: "Messaging channels" },
   sandbox: { number: 6, title: "Creating sandbox" },
diff --git a/test/onboard-selection.test.ts b/test/onboard-selection.test.ts
index fa00d8f03ce..28090f06c8c 100644
--- a/test/onboard-selection.test.ts
+++ b/test/onboard-selection.test.ts
@@ -227,6 +227,18 @@ const { setupNim } = require(${onboardPath});
     assert.ok(
       payload.lines.some((line: string) => line.includes("Chat Completions API available")),
     );
+    // #3951: step 3 banner must be provider-agnostic — selecting a non-NIM
+    // provider (here, NVIDIA Endpoints) must not be labeled "(NIM)".
+    assert.ok(
+      payload.lines.some((line: string) =>
+        /\[3\/8\] Configuring inference provider\b/.test(line),
+      ),
+      "expected provider-agnostic [3/8] banner",
+    );
+    assert.ok(
+      !payload.lines.some((line: string) => line.includes("Configuring inference (NIM)")),
+      'step 3 banner must not be labeled "Configuring inference (NIM)" for non-NIM providers',
+    );
   });
 
   it("offers detected running vLLM without requiring a rerun", () => {