diff --git a/src/plugins/ios/iosconfigurations.cpp b/src/plugins/ios/iosconfigurations.cpp
index 93c00fb2ee6..4ba74298a9b 100644
--- a/src/plugins/ios/iosconfigurations.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/ios/iosconfigurations.cpp
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include <projectexplorer/kitmanager.h>
 #include <projectexplorer/kitinformation.h>
 #include <projectexplorer/devicesupport/devicemanager.h>
+#include <projectexplorer/devicesupport/idevice.h>
 #include <projectexplorer/toolchainmanager.h>
 #include <projectexplorer/toolchain.h>
 #include <projectexplorer/gcctoolchain.h>
@@ -573,7 +574,7 @@ IosToolChainFactory::IosToolChainFactory()
 
 Toolchains IosToolChainFactory::autoDetect(const ToolchainDetector &detector) const
 {
-    if (detector.device)
+    if (detector.device->type() != ProjectExplorer::Constants::DESKTOP_DEVICE_TYPE)
         return {};
 
     QList<ClangToolChain *> existingClangToolChains = clangToolChains(detector.alreadyKnown);
diff --git a/src/plugins/nim/project/nimtoolchainfactory.cpp b/src/plugins/nim/project/nimtoolchainfactory.cpp
index 4301140865a..01ec5373b55 100644
--- a/src/plugins/nim/project/nimtoolchainfactory.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/nim/project/nimtoolchainfactory.cpp
@@ -35,10 +35,7 @@ Toolchains NimToolChainFactory::autoDetect(const ToolchainDetector &detector) co
 {
     Toolchains result;
 
-    IDevice::ConstPtr dev =
-        detector.device ? detector.device : DeviceManager::defaultDesktopDevice();
-
-    const FilePath compilerPath = dev->searchExecutableInPath("nim");
+    const FilePath compilerPath = detector.device->searchExecutableInPath("nim");
     if (compilerPath.isEmpty())
         return result;
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/gcctoolchain.cpp b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/gcctoolchain.cpp
index b145ba56b6b..7212e24dd5d 100644
--- a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/gcctoolchain.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/gcctoolchain.cpp
@@ -1040,10 +1040,9 @@ GccToolChainFactory::GccToolChainFactory()
 Toolchains GccToolChainFactory::autoDetect(const ToolchainDetector &detector) const
 {
     // GCC is almost never what you want on macOS, but it is by default found in /usr/bin
-    if (HostOsInfo::isMacHost()
-            && (!detector.device || detector.device->type() == Constants::DESKTOP_DEVICE_TYPE)) {
+    if (HostOsInfo::isMacHost() && detector.device->type() == Constants::DESKTOP_DEVICE_TYPE)
         return {};
-    }
+
     Toolchains tcs;
     static const auto tcChecker = [](const ToolChain *tc) {
         return tc->targetAbi().osFlavor() != Abi::WindowsMSysFlavor
@@ -1086,7 +1085,7 @@ static FilePaths findCompilerCandidates(const ToolchainDetector &detector,
 {
     const IDevice::ConstPtr device = detector.device;
     const QFileInfo fi(compilerName);
-    if (device.isNull() && fi.isAbsolute() && fi.isFile())
+    if (device->type() == ProjectExplorer::Constants::DESKTOP_DEVICE_TYPE && fi.isAbsolute() && fi.isFile())
         return {FilePath::fromString(compilerName)};
 
     QStringList nameFilters(compilerName);
diff --git a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/msvctoolchain.cpp b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/msvctoolchain.cpp
index 1eebcc68069..334777c24e2 100644
--- a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/msvctoolchain.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/msvctoolchain.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 #include "msvctoolchain.h"
 
+#include "devicesupport/idevice.h"
 #include "gcctoolchain.h"
 #include "msvcparser.h"
 #include "projectexplorer.h"
@@ -1909,7 +1910,7 @@ static void detectCppBuildTools2015(Toolchains *list)
 
 Toolchains MsvcToolChainFactory::autoDetect(const ToolchainDetector &detector) const
 {
-    if (!detector.device.isNull()) {
+    if (detector.device->type() != ProjectExplorer::Constants::DESKTOP_DEVICE_TYPE) {
         // FIXME currently no support for msvc toolchains on a device
         return {};
     }
@@ -2024,7 +2025,7 @@ bool ClangClToolChainFactory::canCreate() const
 
 Toolchains ClangClToolChainFactory::autoDetect(const ToolchainDetector &detector) const
 {
-    if (!detector.device.isNull()) {
+    if (detector.device->type() != ProjectExplorer::Constants::DESKTOP_DEVICE_TYPE) {
         // FIXME currently no support for msvc toolchains on a device
         return {};
     }
diff --git a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchain.cpp b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchain.cpp
index dfca4040fe3..8b8cfce2c80 100644
--- a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchain.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchain.cpp
@@ -674,7 +674,9 @@ ToolchainDetector::ToolchainDetector(const Toolchains &alreadyKnown,
                                      const IDevice::ConstPtr &device,
                                      const FilePaths &searchPaths)
     : alreadyKnown(alreadyKnown), device(device), searchPaths(searchPaths)
-{}
+{
+    QTC_CHECK(device);
+}
 
 BadToolchain::BadToolchain(const Utils::FilePath &filePath)
     : BadToolchain(filePath, filePath.symLinkTarget(), filePath.lastModified())
diff --git a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchainsettingsaccessor.cpp b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchainsettingsaccessor.cpp
index 4152e9882ee..d7db868e856 100644
--- a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchainsettingsaccessor.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchainsettingsaccessor.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 #include "toolchainsettingsaccessor.h"
 
+#include "devicesupport/devicemanager.h"
 #include "projectexplorerconstants.h"
 #include "projectexplorertr.h"
 #include "toolchain.h"
@@ -192,9 +193,11 @@ Toolchains ToolChainSettingsAccessor::restoreToolChains(QWidget *parent) const
     // Autodetect: Pass autodetected toolchains from user file so the information can be reused:
     const Toolchains autodetectedUserFileTcs
             = Utils::filtered(userFileTcs, &ToolChain::isAutoDetected);
-    // FIXME: Use real device?
-    const Toolchains autodetectedTcs =
-        autoDetectToolChains(ToolchainDetector(autodetectedUserFileTcs, {}, {}));
+
+    // Autodect from system paths on the desktop device.
+    // The restriction is intentional to keep startup and automatic validation a limited effort
+    ToolchainDetector detector(autodetectedUserFileTcs, DeviceManager::defaultDesktopDevice(), {});
+    const Toolchains autodetectedTcs = autoDetectToolChains(detector);
 
     // merge tool chains and register those that we need to keep:
     const ToolChainOperations ops = mergeToolChainLists(systemFileTcs, userFileTcs, autodetectedTcs);
diff --git a/src/plugins/webassembly/webassemblytoolchain.cpp b/src/plugins/webassembly/webassemblytoolchain.cpp
index e38b00dac6d..4ee3eff5916 100644
--- a/src/plugins/webassembly/webassemblytoolchain.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/webassembly/webassemblytoolchain.cpp
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ static Toolchains doAutoDetect(const ToolchainDetector &detector)
     if (!WebAssemblyEmSdk::isValid(sdk))
         return {};
 
-    if (detector.device) {
+    if (detector.device->type() != ProjectExplorer::Constants::DESKTOP_DEVICE_TYPE) {
         // Only detect toolchains from the emsdk installation device
         const FilePath deviceRoot = detector.device->rootPath();
         if (deviceRoot.host() != sdk.host())