diff --git a/server/src/db/migration/timescaledb/0022_add_strategy_to_monitors.ts b/server/src/db/migration/timescaledb/0022_add_strategy_to_monitors.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 06d48cc75..000000000
--- a/server/src/db/migration/timescaledb/0022_add_strategy_to_monitors.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-import type { Pool } from "pg";
-
-export const addStrategyToMonitors = async (pool: Pool) => {
-	await pool.query(`
-		ALTER TABLE monitors
-		ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS strategy TEXT DEFAULT NULL;
-	`);
-};
-
-export const dropStrategyFromMonitors = async (pool: Pool) => {
-	await pool.query(`
-		ALTER TABLE monitors
-		DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS strategy;
-	`);
-};
diff --git a/server/src/validation/monitorValidation.ts b/server/src/validation/monitorValidation.ts
index 1889aa415..69d1c2c2a 100644
--- a/server/src/validation/monitorValidation.ts
+++ b/server/src/validation/monitorValidation.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { z } from "zod";
 import { booleanCoercion, dnsHostnameRegex, dnsServerValidation } from "./shared.js";
 import { GeoContinents } from "@/types/geoCheck.js";
-import { DefaultPageSpeedStrategy, DnsRecordTypes, MonitorMatchMethods, MonitorStatuses, MonitorTypes, PageSpeedStrategies } from "@/types/monitor.js";
+import { DnsRecordTypes, MonitorMatchMethods, MonitorStatuses, MonitorTypes, PageSpeedStrategies } from "@/types/monitor.js";
 
 export const getMonitorByIdParamValidation = z.object({
 	monitorId: z.string().min(1, "Monitor ID is required"),
@@ -49,6 +49,16 @@ const refineDnsHostname = (body: { type?: string; url?: string }, ctx: z.Refinem
 	}
 };
 
+const refineStrategyType = (body: { type?: string; strategy?: string }, ctx: z.RefinementCtx) => {
+	if (body.strategy !== undefined && body.type !== undefined && body.type !== "pagespeed") {
+		ctx.addIssue({
+			code: "custom",
+			path: ["strategy"],
+			message: "Strategy is only valid for pagespeed monitors",
+		});
+	}
+};
+
 export const createMonitorBodyValidation = z
 	.object({
 		_id: z.string().optional(),
@@ -83,7 +93,8 @@ export const createMonitorBodyValidation = z
 		dnsServer: dnsServerValidation.optional(),
 		dnsRecordType: z.enum(DnsRecordTypes).optional(),
 	})
-	.superRefine(refineDnsHostname);
+	.superRefine(refineDnsHostname)
+	.superRefine(refineStrategyType);
 
 export const editMonitorBodyValidation = z
 	.object({
@@ -117,7 +128,8 @@ export const editMonitorBodyValidation = z
 		dnsServer: dnsServerValidation.optional(),
 		dnsRecordType: z.enum(DnsRecordTypes).optional(),
 	})
-	.superRefine(refineDnsHostname);
+	.superRefine(refineDnsHostname)
+	.superRefine(refineStrategyType);
 
 export const pauseMonitorParamValidation = z.object({
 	monitorId: z.string().min(1, "Monitor ID is required"),
@@ -175,7 +187,7 @@ const importedMonitorSchema = z
 		selectedDisks: z.array(z.string()).default([]),
 		gameId: z.union([z.string(), z.literal("")]).optional(),
 		grpcServiceName: z.union([z.string(), z.literal("")]).default(""),
-		strategy: z.enum(PageSpeedStrategies).default(DefaultPageSpeedStrategy),
+		strategy: z.enum(PageSpeedStrategies).optional(),
 		group: z.union([z.string().max(50).trim(), z.null()]).default(null),
 		geoCheckEnabled: z.boolean().default(false),
 		geoCheckLocations: z.array(z.enum(GeoContinents)).default([]),
@@ -185,7 +197,8 @@ const importedMonitorSchema = z
 		createdAt: z.string().optional(),
 		updatedAt: z.string().optional(),
 	})
-	.superRefine(refineDnsHostname);
+	.superRefine(refineDnsHostname)
+	.superRefine(refineStrategyType);
 
 export const importMonitorsBodyValidation = z.object({
 	monitors: z.array(importedMonitorSchema).min(1, "At least one monitor is required"),
diff --git a/server/test/unit/validation/monitorValidation.test.ts b/server/test/unit/validation/monitorValidation.test.ts
index 62fa91625..057ff6ae1 100644
--- a/server/test/unit/validation/monitorValidation.test.ts
+++ b/server/test/unit/validation/monitorValidation.test.ts
@@ -129,3 +129,96 @@ describe("monitorValidation — DNS fields", () => {
 		});
 	});
 });
+
+describe("monitorValidation — strategy gating", () => {
+	describe("createMonitorBodyValidation", () => {
+		it("accepts strategy on pagespeed monitors", () => {
+			const parsed = createMonitorBodyValidation.parse({
+				name: "PS check",
+				type: "pagespeed",
+				url: "https://example.com",
+				strategy: "mobile",
+			});
+			expect(parsed.strategy).toBe("mobile");
+		});
+
+		it("accepts pagespeed monitors without a strategy", () => {
+			const parsed = createMonitorBodyValidation.parse({
+				name: "PS check",
+				type: "pagespeed",
+				url: "https://example.com",
+			});
+			expect(parsed.strategy).toBeUndefined();
+		});
+
+		it("rejects strategy on non-pagespeed monitor types", () => {
+			for (const type of ["http", "ping", "docker", "port", "game", "grpc", "websocket", "dns", "hardware"] as const) {
+				expect(() =>
+					createMonitorBodyValidation.parse({
+						name: "wrong-type check",
+						type,
+						url: type === "dns" ? "example.com" : "https://example.com",
+						strategy: "desktop",
+					})
+				).toThrow();
+			}
+		});
+
+		it("allows non-pagespeed monitors without a strategy", () => {
+			const parsed = createMonitorBodyValidation.parse({
+				name: "HTTP check",
+				type: "http",
+				url: "https://example.com",
+			});
+			expect(parsed.strategy).toBeUndefined();
+		});
+	});
+
+	describe("editMonitorBodyValidation", () => {
+		it("rejects strategy when type is explicitly non-pagespeed", () => {
+			expect(() =>
+				editMonitorBodyValidation.parse({
+					type: "http",
+					strategy: "mobile",
+				})
+			).toThrow();
+		});
+
+		it("allows strategy when type is omitted (partial edit)", () => {
+			const parsed = editMonitorBodyValidation.parse({
+				strategy: "mobile",
+			});
+			expect(parsed.strategy).toBe("mobile");
+		});
+	});
+
+	describe("importMonitorsBodyValidation", () => {
+		it("does not inject a default strategy on imported HTTP monitors", () => {
+			const parsed = importMonitorsBodyValidation.parse({
+				monitors: [
+					{
+						name: "Imported HTTP",
+						type: "http",
+						url: "https://example.com",
+					},
+				],
+			});
+			expect(parsed.monitors[0].strategy).toBeUndefined();
+		});
+
+		it("rejects strategy on imported non-pagespeed monitors", () => {
+			expect(() =>
+				importMonitorsBodyValidation.parse({
+					monitors: [
+						{
+							name: "Imported HTTP",
+							type: "http",
+							url: "https://example.com",
+							strategy: "desktop",
+						},
+					],
+				})
+			).toThrow();
+		});
+	});
+});