diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/user-settings/Preferences.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/user-settings/Preferences.tsx
index c0347de8fe0184..70f534921fca7d 100644
--- a/components/dashboard/src/user-settings/Preferences.tsx
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/user-settings/Preferences.tsx
@@ -81,14 +81,14 @@ export default function Preferences() {
         [toast, setUser, workspaceTimeout, billingMode],
     );
 
-    const clearAutostartWorkspaceOptions = useCallback(async () => {
+    const clearCreateWorkspaceOptions = useCallback(async () => {
         if (!user) {
             return;
         }
         AdditionalUserData.set(user, { workspaceAutostartOptions: [] });
         setUser(user);
         await getGitpodService().server.updateLoggedInUser(user);
-        toast("Your autostart options were cleared.");
+        toast("Workspace options have been cleared.");
     }, [setUser, toast, user]);
 
     return (
@@ -107,9 +107,9 @@ export default function Preferences() {
                     </a>
                 </Subheading>
                 <SelectIDE location="preferences" />
-                <Heading3 className="mt-12">Autostart Options</Heading3>
-                <Subheading>Forget any saved autostart options for all repositories.</Subheading>
-                <Button className="mt-4" type="secondary" onClick={clearAutostartWorkspaceOptions}>
+                <Heading3 className="mt-12">Workspace Options</Heading3>
+                <Subheading>Clear last used options for creating workspaces.</Subheading>
+                <Button className="mt-4" type="secondary" onClick={clearCreateWorkspaceOptions}>
                     Reset Options
                 </Button>
 
diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/CreateWorkspacePage.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/CreateWorkspacePage.tsx
index 04c2650c6247d9..98ecadb84ac662 100644
--- a/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/CreateWorkspacePage.tsx
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/CreateWorkspacePage.tsx
@@ -10,14 +10,16 @@ import { ErrorCodes } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/messaging/error";
 import { Deferred } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/util/deferred";
 import { FC, FunctionComponent, useCallback, useContext, useEffect, useMemo, useState } from "react";
 import { useHistory, useLocation } from "react-router";
-import { Link } from "react-router-dom";
+import Alert from "../components/Alert";
+import { AuthorizeGit, useNeedsGitAuthorization } from "../components/AuthorizeGit";
 import { Button } from "../components/Button";
+import { LinkButton } from "../components/LinkButton";
 import Modal from "../components/Modal";
 import RepositoryFinder from "../components/RepositoryFinder";
 import SelectIDEComponent from "../components/SelectIDEComponent";
 import SelectWorkspaceClassComponent from "../components/SelectWorkspaceClassComponent";
 import { UsageLimitReachedModal } from "../components/UsageLimitReachedModal";
-import { CheckboxInputField } from "../components/forms/CheckboxInputField";
+import { InputField } from "../components/forms/InputField";
 import { Heading1 } from "../components/typography/headings";
 import { useAuthProviders } from "../data/auth-providers/auth-provider-query";
 import { useCurrentOrg } from "../data/organizations/orgs-query";
@@ -25,6 +27,7 @@ import { useListProjectsQuery } from "../data/projects/list-projects-query";
 import { useCreateWorkspaceMutation } from "../data/workspaces/create-workspace-mutation";
 import { useListWorkspacesQuery } from "../data/workspaces/list-workspaces-query";
 import { useWorkspaceContext } from "../data/workspaces/resolve-context-query";
+import { useDirtyState } from "../hooks/use-dirty-state";
 import { openAuthorizeWindow } from "../provider-utils";
 import { getGitpodService, gitpodHostUrl } from "../service/service";
 import { StartWorkspaceError } from "../start/StartPage";
@@ -32,14 +35,8 @@ import { VerifyModal } from "../start/VerifyModal";
 import { StartWorkspaceOptions } from "../start/start-workspace-options";
 import { UserContext, useCurrentUser } from "../user-context";
 import { SelectAccountModal } from "../user-settings/SelectAccountModal";
-import { settingsPathPreferences } from "../user-settings/settings.routes";
-import { WorkspaceEntry } from "./WorkspaceEntry";
-import { AuthorizeGit, useNeedsGitAuthorization } from "../components/AuthorizeGit";
 import { settingsPathIntegrations } from "../user-settings/settings.routes";
-import { useDirtyState } from "../hooks/use-dirty-state";
-import { LinkButton } from "../components/LinkButton";
-import { InputField } from "../components/forms/InputField";
-import Alert from "../components/Alert";
+import { WorkspaceEntry } from "./WorkspaceEntry";
 
 export function CreateWorkspacePage() {
     const { user, setUser } = useContext(UserContext);
@@ -68,12 +65,12 @@ export function CreateWorkspacePage() {
     const [contextURL, setContextURL] = useState<string | undefined>(
         StartWorkspaceOptions.parseContextUrl(location.hash),
     );
+    const [optionsLoaded, setOptionsLoaded] = useState(false);
     // Currently this tracks if the user has selected a project from the dropdown
     // Need to make sure we initialize this to a project if the url hash value maps to a project's repo url
     // Will need to handle multiple projects w/ same repo url
     const [selectedProjectID, setSelectedProjectID] = useState<string | undefined>(undefined);
     const workspaceContext = useWorkspaceContext(contextURL);
-    const [rememberOptions, setRememberOptions] = useState(false);
     const needsGitAuthorization = useNeedsGitAuthorization();
 
     const storeAutoStartOptions = useCallback(async () => {
@@ -88,27 +85,25 @@ export function CreateWorkspacePage() {
             (e) => !(e.cloneURL === cloneURL && e.organizationId === currentOrg.id),
         );
 
-        // we only keep the last 20 options
+        // we only keep the last 40 options
         workspaceAutoStartOptions = workspaceAutoStartOptions.slice(-40);
 
-        if (rememberOptions) {
-            workspaceAutoStartOptions.push({
-                cloneURL,
-                organizationId: currentOrg.id,
-                ideSettings: {
-                    defaultIde: selectedIde,
-                    useLatestVersion: useLatestIde,
-                },
-                workspaceClass: selectedWsClass,
-            });
-        }
+        // remember options
+        workspaceAutoStartOptions.push({
+            cloneURL,
+            organizationId: currentOrg.id,
+            ideSettings: {
+                defaultIde: selectedIde,
+                useLatestVersion: useLatestIde,
+            },
+            workspaceClass: selectedWsClass,
+        });
         AdditionalUserData.set(user, {
             workspaceAutostartOptions: workspaceAutoStartOptions,
         });
         setUser(user);
         await getGitpodService().server.updateLoggedInUser(user);
-        console.log("Stored autostart options", workspaceAutoStartOptions);
-    }, [currentOrg, rememberOptions, selectedIde, selectedWsClass, setUser, useLatestIde, user, workspaceContext.data]);
+    }, [currentOrg, selectedIde, selectedWsClass, setUser, useLatestIde, user, workspaceContext.data]);
 
     // see if we have a matching project based on context url and project's repo url
     const project = useMemo(() => {
@@ -273,23 +268,22 @@ export function CreateWorkspacePage() {
 
     // listen on auto start changes
     useEffect(() => {
-        if (!autostart) {
+        if (!autostart || !optionsLoaded) {
             return;
         }
         createWorkspace();
-    }, [autostart, createWorkspace]);
+    }, [autostart, optionsLoaded, createWorkspace]);
 
     // when workspaceContext is available, we look up if options are remembered
     useEffect(() => {
         const cloneURL = CommitContext.is(workspaceContext.data) && workspaceContext.data.repository.cloneUrl;
-        if (!cloneURL || autostart) {
+        if (!cloneURL) {
             return undefined;
         }
         const rememberedOptions = (user?.additionalData?.workspaceAutostartOptions || []).find(
             (e) => e.cloneURL === cloneURL && e.organizationId === currentOrg?.id,
         );
         if (rememberedOptions) {
-            setRememberOptions(true);
             if (!selectedIdeIsDirty) {
                 setSelectedIde(rememberedOptions.ideSettings?.defaultIde, false);
                 setUseLatestIde(!!rememberedOptions.ideSettings?.useLatestVersion);
@@ -298,20 +292,20 @@ export function CreateWorkspacePage() {
             if (!selectedWsClassIsDirty) {
                 setSelectedWsClass(rememberedOptions.workspaceClass, false);
             }
-            if (autostart === undefined) {
-                setAutostart(true);
-            }
         } else {
-            setRememberOptions(false);
             // reset the ide settings to the user's default IF they haven't changed it manually
             if (!selectedIdeIsDirty) {
                 setSelectedIde(defaultIde, false);
                 setUseLatestIde(defaultLatestIde);
             }
+            if (!selectedWsClassIsDirty) {
+                setSelectedWsClass(defaultWorkspaceClass, false);
+            }
         }
+        setOptionsLoaded(true);
         // we only update the remembered options when the workspaceContext changes
         // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
-    }, [workspaceContext.data]);
+    }, [workspaceContext.data, setOptionsLoaded]);
 
     // Need a wrapper here so we call createWorkspace w/o any arguments
     const onClickCreate = useCallback(() => createWorkspace(), [createWorkspace]);
@@ -326,9 +320,24 @@ export function CreateWorkspacePage() {
         }
     }, [selectedIdeIsDirty, setSelectedIde, workspaceContext.data]);
 
+    // on error we disable auto start and consider options loaded
+    useEffect(() => {
+        if (workspaceContext.error || createWorkspaceMutation.error) {
+            setAutostart(false);
+            setOptionsLoaded(true);
+        }
+    }, [workspaceContext.error, createWorkspaceMutation.error]);
+
     // Derive if the continue button is disabled based on current state
     const continueButtonDisabled = useMemo(() => {
-        if (workspaceContext.isLoading || !contextURL || contextURL.length === 0 || !!errorIde || !!errorWsClass) {
+        if (
+            autostart ||
+            workspaceContext.isLoading ||
+            !contextURL ||
+            contextURL.length === 0 ||
+            !!errorIde ||
+            !!errorWsClass
+        ) {
             return true;
         }
         if (workspaceContext.error) {
@@ -341,7 +350,7 @@ export function CreateWorkspacePage() {
         }
 
         return false;
-    }, [contextURL, errorIde, errorWsClass, workspaceContext.error, workspaceContext.isLoading]);
+    }, [autostart, contextURL, errorIde, errorWsClass, workspaceContext.error, workspaceContext.isLoading]);
 
     if (SelectAccountPayload.is(selectAccountError)) {
         return (
@@ -408,7 +417,7 @@ export function CreateWorkspacePage() {
                             selectedIdeOption={selectedIde}
                             useLatest={useLatestIde}
                             disabled={createWorkspaceMutation.isStarting}
-                            loading={workspaceContext.isLoading}
+                            loading={workspaceContext.isLoading || !optionsLoaded}
                         />
                     </InputField>
 
@@ -418,7 +427,7 @@ export function CreateWorkspacePage() {
                             setError={setErrorWsClass}
                             selectedWorkspaceClass={selectedWsClass}
                             disabled={createWorkspaceMutation.isStarting}
-                            loading={workspaceContext.isLoading}
+                            loading={workspaceContext.isLoading || !optionsLoaded}
                         />
                     </InputField>
                 </div>
@@ -427,20 +436,13 @@ export function CreateWorkspacePage() {
                         onClick={onClickCreate}
                         autoFocus={true}
                         size="block"
-                        loading={createWorkspaceMutation.isStarting}
+                        loading={createWorkspaceMutation.isStarting || autostart}
                         disabled={continueButtonDisabled}
                     >
                         {createWorkspaceMutation.isStarting ? "Opening Workspace ..." : "Continue"}
                     </Button>
                 </div>
 
-                {workspaceContext.data && (
-                    <RememberOptions
-                        disabled={workspaceContext.isLoading || createWorkspaceMutation.isStarting}
-                        checked={rememberOptions}
-                        onChange={setRememberOptions}
-                    />
-                )}
                 {existingWorkspaces.length > 0 && !createWorkspaceMutation.isStarting && (
                     <div className="w-full flex flex-col justify-end px-6">
                         <p className="mt-6 text-center text-base">Running workspaces on this revision</p>
@@ -462,33 +464,6 @@ export function CreateWorkspacePage() {
     );
 }
 
-function RememberOptions(params: { disabled?: boolean; checked: boolean; onChange: (checked: boolean) => void }) {
-    const { disabled, checked, onChange } = params;
-
-    return (
-        <>
-            <div className={"w-full flex justify-center mt-3 px-8 mx-2"}>
-                <CheckboxInputField
-                    label="Autostart with these options for this repository."
-                    checked={checked}
-                    disabled={disabled}
-                    topMargin={false}
-                    onChange={onChange}
-                />
-            </div>
-            <div className={"w-full flex justify-center px-8 mx-2"}>
-                <p className="text-gray-400 dark:text-gray-500 text-sm">
-                    Don't worry, you can reset this anytime in your{" "}
-                    <Link to={settingsPathPreferences} className="gp-link">
-                        preferences
-                    </Link>
-                    .
-                </p>
-            </div>
-        </>
-    );
-}
-
 function tryAuthorize(host: string, scopes?: string[]): Promise<SelectAccountPayload | undefined> {
     const result = new Deferred<SelectAccountPayload | undefined>();
     openAuthorizeWindow({