diff --git a/include/wx/webview.h b/include/wx/webview.h
index 4f6c96b868..740991a7bc 100644
--- a/include/wx/webview.h
+++ b/include/wx/webview.h
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ public:
     static void RegisterFactory(const wxString& backend,
                                 wxSharedPtr<wxWebViewFactory> factory);
     static bool IsBackendAvailable(const wxString& backend);
-    static wxVersionInfo GetBackendVersionInfo(const wxString& backend);
+    static wxVersionInfo GetBackendVersionInfo(const wxString& backend = wxASCII_STR(wxWebViewBackendDefault));
 
     // General methods
     virtual void EnableContextMenu(bool enable = true)
diff --git a/interface/wx/webview.h b/interface/wx/webview.h
index 0f2a2ca7b3..1e46ebad43 100644
--- a/interface/wx/webview.h
+++ b/interface/wx/webview.h
@@ -337,6 +337,10 @@ public:
     - Make sure to add a note about using the WebView2 SDK to your application
       documentation, as required by its licence
 
+    If enabled and available at runtime edge will be selected as the default
+    backend. If you require the IE backend use @c wxWEBVIEW_BACKEND_IE when
+    using wxWebView::New().
+
     If your application should use a
     <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/webview2/concepts/distribution#fixed-version-distribution-mode">
     fixed version</a> of the WebView2 runtime you must use
@@ -504,7 +508,7 @@ public:
 
         @since 3.1.5
     */
-    static wxVersionInfo GetBackendVersionInfo(const wxString& backend);
+    static wxVersionInfo GetBackendVersionInfo(const wxString& backend = wxWebViewBackendDefault);
 
     /**
         Get the title of the current web page, or its URL/path if title is not
diff --git a/samples/webview/webview.cpp b/samples/webview/webview.cpp
index 9ad0011c2d..368628d88d 100644
--- a/samples/webview/webview.cpp
+++ b/samples/webview/webview.cpp
@@ -374,9 +374,7 @@ WebFrame::WebFrame(const wxString& url) :
     // Create a log window
     new wxLogWindow(this, _("Logging"), true, false);
 
-    // Create the webview
-    wxString backend = wxWebViewBackendDefault;
-#ifdef __WXMSW__
+#if wxUSE_WEBVIEW_EDGE
     // Check if a fixed version of edge is present in
     // $executable_path/edge_fixed and use it
     wxFileName edgeFixedDir(wxStandardPaths::Get().GetExecutablePath());
@@ -387,18 +385,12 @@ WebFrame::WebFrame(const wxString& url) :
         wxWebViewEdge::MSWSetBrowserExecutableDir(edgeFixedDir.GetFullPath());
         wxLogMessage("Using fixed edge version");
     }
-    if (wxWebView::IsBackendAvailable(wxWebViewBackendEdge))
-    {
-        wxLogMessage("Using Edge backend");
-        backend = wxWebViewBackendEdge;
-    }
-    else
-    {
-        wxLogMessage("Edge backend not available");
-    }
 #endif
-    m_browser = wxWebView::New(backend);
-    wxLogMessage("Backend version: %s", wxWebView::GetBackendVersionInfo(backend).ToString());
+    // Create the webview
+    m_browser = wxWebView::New();
+    // Log backend information
+    wxLogMessage("Backend: %s Version: %s", m_browser->GetClassInfo()->GetClassName(),
+        wxWebView::GetBackendVersionInfo().ToString());
 #ifdef __WXMAC__
     // With WKWebView handlers need to be registered before creation
     m_browser->RegisterHandler(wxSharedPtr<wxWebViewHandler>(new wxWebViewArchiveHandler("wxfs")));
diff --git a/src/common/webview.cpp b/src/common/webview.cpp
index cab737ae24..21ab75f5ea 100644
--- a/src/common/webview.cpp
+++ b/src/common/webview.cpp
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ extern WXDLLIMPEXP_DATA_WEBVIEW(const char) wxWebViewBackendEdge[] = "wxWebViewE
 extern WXDLLIMPEXP_DATA_WEBVIEW(const char) wxWebViewBackendWebKit[] = "wxWebViewWebKit";
 
 #ifdef __WXMSW__
-extern WXDLLIMPEXP_DATA_WEBVIEW(const char) wxWebViewBackendDefault[] = "wxWebViewIE";
+extern WXDLLIMPEXP_DATA_WEBVIEW(const char) wxWebViewBackendDefault[] = "";
 #else
 extern WXDLLIMPEXP_DATA_WEBVIEW(const char) wxWebViewBackendDefault[] = "wxWebViewWebKit";
 #endif
@@ -269,7 +269,22 @@ wxStringWebViewFactoryMap::iterator wxWebView::FindFactory(const wxString &backe
     // Initialise the map, it checks internally for existing factories
     InitFactoryMap();
 
-    return m_factoryMap.find(backend);
+#ifdef __WXMSW__
+    // Use edge as default backend on MSW if available
+    if (backend.empty())
+    {
+        wxStringWebViewFactoryMap::iterator defaultBackend =
+            m_factoryMap.find(wxWebViewBackendIE);
+#if wxUSE_WEBVIEW_EDGE
+        wxStringWebViewFactoryMap::iterator edgeFactory = m_factoryMap.find(wxWebViewBackendEdge);
+        if (edgeFactory->second->IsAvailable())
+            return edgeFactory;
+#endif
+        return defaultBackend;
+    }
+    else
+#endif
+        return m_factoryMap.find(backend);
 }
 
 // static