diff --git a/backend/danswer/server/features/persona/api.py b/backend/danswer/server/features/persona/api.py
index 8b4305755dc9..6f7cba5bf222 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/server/features/persona/api.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/server/features/persona/api.py
@@ -239,11 +239,14 @@ def get_persona(
     persona_id: int,
     user: User | None = Depends(current_user),
     db_session: Session = Depends(get_session),
+    include_non_owned: bool = Query(
+        False, description="If true, return persona even if user doesn't own it."
+    ),
 ) -> PersonaSnapshot:
     return PersonaSnapshot.from_model(
         get_persona_by_id(
             persona_id=persona_id,
-            user=user,
+            user=user if not include_non_owned else None,
             db_session=db_session,
             is_for_edit=False,
         )
diff --git a/web/src/app/chat/shared/[chatId]/SharedChatDisplay.tsx b/web/src/app/chat/shared/[chatId]/SharedChatDisplay.tsx
index 489163aa3c8e..c5825f5fb0e9 100644
--- a/web/src/app/chat/shared/[chatId]/SharedChatDisplay.tsx
+++ b/web/src/app/chat/shared/[chatId]/SharedChatDisplay.tsx
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import Prism from "prismjs";
 
 import { humanReadableFormat } from "@/lib/time";
-import { BackendChatSession } from "../../interfaces";
+import { BackendChatSession, SharedChatSession } from "../../interfaces";
 import {
   buildLatestMessageChain,
   getCitedDocumentsFromMessage,
@@ -11,10 +11,10 @@ import {
 import { AIMessage, HumanMessage } from "../../message/Messages";
 import { Button, Callout, Divider } from "@tremor/react";
 import { useRouter } from "next/navigation";
-import { Persona } from "@/app/admin/assistants/interfaces";
 import { useContext, useEffect, useState } from "react";
 import { SettingsContext } from "@/components/settings/SettingsProvider";
 import { DanswerInitializingLoader } from "@/components/DanswerInitializingLoader";
+import { Persona } from "@/app/admin/assistants/interfaces";
 
 function BackToDanswerButton() {
   const router = useRouter();
@@ -34,10 +34,10 @@ function BackToDanswerButton() {
 
 export function SharedChatDisplay({
   chatSession,
-  availableAssistants,
+  persona,
 }: {
   chatSession: BackendChatSession | null;
-  availableAssistants: Persona[];
+  persona: Persona;
 }) {
   const [isReady, setIsReady] = useState(false);
   useEffect(() => {
@@ -56,9 +56,6 @@ export function SharedChatDisplay({
       </div>
     );
   }
-  const currentPersona = availableAssistants.find(
-    (persona) => persona.id === chatSession.persona_id
-  );
 
   const messages = buildLatestMessageChain(
     processRawChatHistory(chatSession.messages)
@@ -96,7 +93,7 @@ export function SharedChatDisplay({
                     return (
                       <AIMessage
                         shared
-                        currentPersona={currentPersona!}
+                        currentPersona={persona}
                         key={message.messageId}
                         messageId={message.messageId}
                         content={message.message}
diff --git a/web/src/app/chat/shared/[chatId]/page.tsx b/web/src/app/chat/shared/[chatId]/page.tsx
index 9e8ce58432ea..1a5875955e31 100644
--- a/web/src/app/chat/shared/[chatId]/page.tsx
+++ b/web/src/app/chat/shared/[chatId]/page.tsx
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { SharedChatDisplay } from "./SharedChatDisplay";
 import { Persona } from "@/app/admin/assistants/interfaces";
 import { fetchAssistantsSS } from "@/lib/assistants/fetchAssistantsSS";
 import FunctionalHeader from "@/components/chat_search/Header";
+import { fetchAssistantSS } from "@/lib/assistants/fetchAssistantSS";
 
 async function getSharedChat(chatId: string) {
   const response = await fetchSS(
@@ -43,7 +44,16 @@ export default async function Page({ params }: { params: { chatId: string } }) {
   const authTypeMetadata = results[0] as AuthTypeMetadata | null;
   const user = results[1] as User | null;
   const chatSession = results[2] as BackendChatSession | null;
-  const [availableAssistants, _] = results[3] as [Persona[], string | null];
+  const availableAssistants = results[3] as Persona[] | null;
+
+  let persona: Persona | null = null;
+  if (chatSession && chatSession.persona_id) {
+    try {
+      persona = await fetchAssistantSS(chatSession.persona_id);
+    } catch (e) {
+      console.log(`Failed to fetch persona - ${e}`);
+    }
+  }
 
   const authDisabled = authTypeMetadata?.authType === "disabled";
   if (!authDisabled && !user) {
@@ -53,6 +63,9 @@ export default async function Page({ params }: { params: { chatId: string } }) {
   if (user && !user.is_verified && authTypeMetadata?.requiresVerification) {
     return redirect("/auth/waiting-on-verification");
   }
+  if (!persona) {
+    persona = availableAssistants?.[0] ?? null;
+  }
 
   return (
     <div>
@@ -61,10 +74,7 @@ export default async function Page({ params }: { params: { chatId: string } }) {
       </div>
 
       <div className="flex relative bg-background text-default overflow-hidden pt-16 h-screen">
-        <SharedChatDisplay
-          chatSession={chatSession}
-          availableAssistants={availableAssistants}
-        />
+        <SharedChatDisplay chatSession={chatSession} persona={persona!} />
       </div>
     </div>
   );
diff --git a/web/src/components/chat_search/ProviderContext.tsx b/web/src/components/chat_search/ProviderContext.tsx
index 609713f874b6..f0839373b8d3 100644
--- a/web/src/components/chat_search/ProviderContext.tsx
+++ b/web/src/components/chat_search/ProviderContext.tsx
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ export function ProviderContextProvider({
   const fetchProviderInfo = useCallback(async () => {
     const { providers, options, defaultCheckSuccessful } =
       await checkLlmProvider(user);
+
     setValidProviderExists(providers.length > 0 && defaultCheckSuccessful);
     setProviderOptions(options);
   }, [user, setValidProviderExists, setProviderOptions]);
diff --git a/web/src/lib/assistants/fetchAssistantSS.ts b/web/src/lib/assistants/fetchAssistantSS.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7e777994b421
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/src/lib/assistants/fetchAssistantSS.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import { Persona } from "@/app/admin/assistants/interfaces";
+import { fetchSS } from "../utilsSS";
+
+export async function fetchAssistantSS(
+  personaId: number
+): Promise<Persona | null> {
+  const response = await fetchSS(
+    `/persona/${personaId}?include_non_owned=true`
+  );
+  if (response.ok) {
+    return (await response.json()) as Persona;
+  }
+  return null;
+}