diff --git a/lua/forge/health.lua b/lua/forge/health.lua
index 7581ab5..da9b093 100644
--- a/lua/forge/health.lua
+++ b/lua/forge/health.lua
@@ -24,11 +24,9 @@ function M.check()
 
   local picker_mod = require('forge.picker')
   local backend = picker_mod.backend()
-  local picker_backends = { 'fzf-lua', 'telescope', 'snacks' }
   local found_any = false
-  for _, name in ipairs(picker_backends) do
-    local mod = name == 'fzf-lua' and 'fzf-lua' or name
-    if pcall(require, mod) then
+  for _, name in ipairs(picker_mod.detect_order) do
+    if pcall(require, name) then
       local suffix = backend == name and ' (active)' or ''
       vim.health.ok(name .. ' found' .. suffix)
       found_any = true
diff --git a/lua/forge/init.lua b/lua/forge/init.lua
index d8085d1..d26df49 100644
--- a/lua/forge/init.lua
+++ b/lua/forge/init.lua
@@ -725,8 +725,9 @@ function M.config()
     cfg.keys = false
   end
 
+  local picker_backends = require('forge.picker').backends
   vim.validate('forge.picker', cfg.picker, function(v)
-    return v == 'auto' or v == 'fzf-lua' or v == 'telescope' or v == 'snacks'
+    return v == 'auto' or picker_backends[v] ~= nil
   end, "'auto', 'fzf-lua', 'telescope', or 'snacks'")
   vim.validate('forge.sources', cfg.sources, 'table')
   vim.validate('forge.keys', cfg.keys, function(v)
diff --git a/lua/forge/picker/init.lua b/lua/forge/picker/init.lua
index 8956791..7ce309d 100644
--- a/lua/forge/picker/init.lua
+++ b/lua/forge/picker/init.lua
@@ -17,13 +17,14 @@ local M = {}
 ---@field actions forge.PickerActionDef[]
 ---@field picker_name string
 
----@type table<string, string>
-local backends = {
+M.backends = {
   ['fzf-lua'] = 'forge.picker.fzf',
   telescope = 'forge.picker.telescope',
   snacks = 'forge.picker.snacks',
 }
 
+M.detect_order = { 'fzf-lua', 'snacks', 'telescope' }
+
 ---@return string
 local function detect()
   local cfg = require('forge').config()
@@ -31,16 +32,12 @@ local function detect()
   if name ~= 'auto' then
     return name
   end
-  if pcall(require, 'fzf-lua') then
-    return 'fzf-lua'
+  for _, backend in ipairs(M.detect_order) do
+    if pcall(require, backend) then
+      return backend
+    end
   end
-  if pcall(require, 'snacks') then
-    return 'snacks'
-  end
-  if pcall(require, 'telescope') then
-    return 'telescope'
-  end
-  return 'fzf-lua'
+  return M.detect_order[1]
 end
 
 ---@param entry forge.PickerEntry
@@ -64,7 +61,7 @@ end
 ---@param opts forge.PickerOpts
 function M.pick(opts)
   local name = detect()
-  local mod_path = backends[name]
+  local mod_path = M.backends[name]
   if not mod_path then
     vim.notify('[forge]: unknown picker backend: ' .. name, vim.log.levels.ERROR)
     return