diff --git a/src/state/actions/window.js b/src/state/actions/window.js
index ebf2cf10f4a6f1103cba4aa10b16f73baaaa8266..349b968ad87fc75d2030876499bc117bc1e3e573 100644
--- a/src/state/actions/window.js
+++ b/src/state/actions/window.js
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ export function addWindow({ companionWindows, ...options }) {
       rangeId: null,
       rotation: null,
       selectedAnnotations: {},
-      sideBarOpen: config.window.defaultSideBarPanel && config.window.sideBarOpenByDefault,
+      sideBarOpen: config.window.sideBarOpenByDefault,
       sideBarPanel: config.window.defaultSideBarPanel,
       thumbnailNavigationId: cwThumbs,
     };