diff --git a/apps/roam/src/components/DiscourseNodeSearchMenu.tsx b/apps/roam/src/components/DiscourseNodeSearchMenu.tsx
index a7bc6e77d..3cdf9668a 100644
--- a/apps/roam/src/components/DiscourseNodeSearchMenu.tsx
+++ b/apps/roam/src/components/DiscourseNodeSearchMenu.tsx
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import getDiscourseNodes, { DiscourseNode } from "~/utils/getDiscourseNodes";
 import getDiscourseNodeFormatExpression from "~/utils/getDiscourseNodeFormatExpression";
 import { escapeCljString } from "~/utils/formatUtils";
 import { Result } from "~/utils/types";
+import { getSetting } from "~/utils/extensionSettings";
 
 type Props = {
   textarea: HTMLTextAreaElement;
@@ -536,7 +537,7 @@ export const NodeSearchMenuTriggerSetting = ({
 }) => {
   const extensionAPI = onloadArgs.extensionAPI;
   const [nodeSearchTrigger, setNodeSearchTrigger] = useState<string>(
-    extensionAPI.settings.get("node-search-trigger") as string,
+    getSetting("node-search-trigger", "@"),
   );
 
   const handleNodeSearchTriggerChange = (
diff --git a/apps/roam/src/utils/initializeObserversAndListeners.ts b/apps/roam/src/utils/initializeObserversAndListeners.ts
index 5c438e2bd..98ff16a9d 100644
--- a/apps/roam/src/utils/initializeObserversAndListeners.ts
+++ b/apps/roam/src/utils/initializeObserversAndListeners.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ import {
 } from "~/utils/renderTextSelectionPopup";
 import { renderNodeTagPopupButton } from "./renderNodeTagPopup";
 import { formatHexColor } from "~/components/settings/DiscourseNodeCanvasSettings";
+import { getSetting } from "./extensionSettings";
 
 const debounce = (fn: () => void, delay = 250) => {
   let timeout: number;
@@ -230,9 +231,7 @@ export const initObservers = async ({
     }
   };
 
-  const customTrigger = onloadArgs.extensionAPI.settings.get(
-    "node-search-trigger",
-  ) as string;
+  const customTrigger = getSetting("node-search-trigger", "@");
 
   const discourseNodeSearchTriggerListener = (e: Event) => {
     const evt = e as KeyboardEvent;