diff --git a/tools/lsp/Cargo.toml b/tools/lsp/Cargo.toml
index 2a6cefee098..c44ca4ff0e7 100644
--- a/tools/lsp/Cargo.toml
+++ b/tools/lsp/Cargo.toml
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ preview-builtin = ["preview-engine"]
 ## Support the external preview optionally used by e.g. the VSCode plugin
 preview-external = []
 
-default = ["backend-default", "renderer-femtovg", "preview"]
+default = ["backend-default", "renderer-femtovg", "renderer-software", "preview"]
 
 [dependencies]
 i-slint-compiler = { workspace = true, features = ["display-diagnostics"] }
diff --git a/tools/viewer/Cargo.toml b/tools/viewer/Cargo.toml
index a306a1fc04b..43c2e67d0dd 100644
--- a/tools/viewer/Cargo.toml
+++ b/tools/viewer/Cargo.toml
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ renderer-winit-software = ["renderer-software"]
 ## so that the viewer can find the translation
 gettext = ["i-slint-core/gettext-rs"]
 
-default = ["backend-default", "renderer-femtovg"]
+default = ["backend-default", "renderer-femtovg", "renderer-software"]
 
 [dependencies]
 i-slint-compiler = { workspace = true }