diff --git a/src/core/gcal-context.c b/src/core/gcal-context.c
index f20821b4..9c450240 100644
--- a/src/core/gcal-context.c
+++ b/src/core/gcal-context.c
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@
 #include <gdesktop-enums.h>
 #include "gdesktop-enum-types.h"
 
+#include "gcal-utils.h"
+
 #define DESKTOP_SETTINGS_INTERFACE_NAMESPACE "org.gnome.desktop.interface"
 #define DESKTOP_SETTINGS_CALENDAR_NAMESPACE "org.gnome.desktop.calendar"
 #define CLOCK_FORMAT_KEY "clock-format"
@@ -110,7 +112,13 @@ set_week_start_day_from_variant (GcalContext *self,
   weekday_nick = g_variant_get_string (variant, NULL);
   weekday = g_enum_get_value_by_nick (g_type_class_get (G_DESKTOP_TYPE_WEEKDAY), weekday_nick);
 
-  if (!weekday || self->week_start_day == weekday->value)
+  g_assert (weekday != NULL);
+
+  /* find the actual 'default' from locale */
+  if (weekday->value == G_DESKTOP_WEEKDAY_DEFAULT)
+    weekday = g_enum_get_value (g_type_class_get (G_DESKTOP_TYPE_WEEKDAY), gcal_util_get_first_weekday ());
+
+  if (self->week_start_day == weekday->value)
     return;
 
   self->week_start_day = weekday->value;
@@ -383,7 +391,7 @@ gcal_context_class_init (GcalContextClass *klass)
 
   properties[PROP_WEEK_START_DAY] =
     g_param_spec_enum ("week-start-day", NULL, NULL,
-                       G_DESKTOP_TYPE_WEEKDAY, get_first_weekday_iso (),
+                       G_DESKTOP_TYPE_WEEKDAY, gcal_util_get_first_weekday (),
                        G_PARAM_READABLE | G_PARAM_EXPLICIT_NOTIFY | G_PARAM_STATIC_STRINGS);
 
   g_object_class_install_properties (object_class, N_PROPS, properties);
@@ -527,7 +535,7 @@ gcal_context_get_time_format (GcalContext *self)
 GDesktopWeekday
 gcal_context_get_week_start_day (GcalContext *self)
 {
-  g_return_val_if_fail (GCAL_IS_CONTEXT (self), get_first_weekday ());
+  g_return_val_if_fail (GCAL_IS_CONTEXT (self), gcal_util_get_first_weekday ());
 
   return self->week_start_day;
 }
diff --git a/src/utils/gcal-utils.c b/src/utils/gcal-utils.c
index 48b59650..7410317c 100644
--- a/src/utils/gcal-utils.c
+++ b/src/utils/gcal-utils.c
@@ -210,89 +210,6 @@ gcal_util_get_desc_from_component (ECalComponent *component,
   return desc != NULL ? g_strstrip (desc) : NULL;
 }
 
-static gboolean
-read_first_weekday_from_portal (gint *out_first_weekday)
-{
-  static gsize first_weekday_init = FALSE;
-  static gsize first_weekday = G_MAXSIZE;
-
-  if (g_once_init_enter (&first_weekday_init))
-    {
-      g_autoptr (GDBusProxy) settings_portal = NULL;
-      g_autoptr (GVariant) result = NULL;
-      g_autoptr (GVariant) aux2 = NULL;
-      g_autoptr (GVariant) aux = NULL;
-      g_autoptr (GError) error = NULL;
-      const gchar *day;
-
-      /*
-       * If the value is not "default" then there is a user preference
-       * override, in that case skip the autodetection dance.
-       */
-      static const gchar *portal_weekdays[] = {
-        "sunday",
-        "monday",
-        "tuesday",
-        "wednesday",
-        "thursday",
-        "friday",
-        "saturday",
-      };
-
-      settings_portal = g_dbus_proxy_new_for_bus_sync (G_BUS_TYPE_SESSION,
-                                                       G_DBUS_PROXY_FLAGS_NONE,
-                                                       NULL,
-                                                       "org.freedesktop.portal.Desktop",
-                                                       "/org/freedesktop/portal/desktop",
-                                                       "org.freedesktop.portal.Settings",
-                                                       NULL,
-                                                       &error);
-
-      if (error)
-        {
-          g_warning ("Failed to load portals: %s. Aborting...", error->message);
-          goto out;
-        }
-
-      result = g_dbus_proxy_call_sync (settings_portal,
-                                       "ReadOne",
-                                       g_variant_new ("(ss)", "org.gnome.desktop.calendar", "week-start-day"),
-                                       G_DBUS_CALL_FLAGS_NONE,
-                                       G_MAXINT,
-                                       NULL,
-                                       &error);
-
-      if (error)
-        {
-          g_warning ("Failed to load first weekday settings: %s", error->message);
-          goto out;
-        }
-
-      aux = g_variant_get_child_value (result, 0);
-      aux2 = g_variant_get_variant (aux);
-      day = g_variant_get_string (aux2, NULL);
-
-      g_debug ("Setting 'week-start-day' is currently: %s", day);
-
-      for (int i = 0; i < G_N_ELEMENTS (portal_weekdays); i++)
-        {
-          if (g_strcmp0 (day, portal_weekdays[i]) == 0)
-            {
-              first_weekday = i;
-              break;
-            }
-        }
-
-out:
-      g_once_init_leave (&first_weekday_init, TRUE);
-    }
-
-  if (first_weekday != G_MAXSIZE && out_first_weekday)
-    *out_first_weekday = first_weekday;
-
-  return first_weekday != G_MAXSIZE;
-}
-
 /**
  * gcal_util_get_first_weekday:
  *
@@ -306,9 +223,6 @@ gcal_util_get_first_weekday (void)
 {
   gint week_start;
 
-  if (read_first_weekday_from_portal (&week_start))
-    return week_start;
-
 #ifdef HAVE__NL_TIME_FIRST_WEEKDAY
 
   union { unsigned int word; char *string; } langinfo;