diff --git a/R/residuals.R b/R/residuals.R
index 61424679c..5c638fdda 100644
--- a/R/residuals.R
+++ b/R/residuals.R
@@ -301,15 +301,17 @@ residuals.sdmTMB <- function(object,
                              ...) {
   type_was_missing <- missing(type)
   type <- match.arg(type[[1]], choices = c("mle-mvn", "mle-laplace", "mle-eb", "mle-mcmc", "response", "pearson"))
-  if (type_was_missing || type == "mle-laplace") {
-    msg <- paste0("Note what used to be the default sdmTMB residuals ",
-      "(before version 0.4.3.9005) are now `type = 'mle-eb'`. We recommend using ",
-      "the current default `'mle-mvn'`, which takes one sample from the approximate ",
-      "posterior of the random effects or `dharma_residuals()` using a similar ",
-      "approach.")
-    cli_inform(msg)
-    if (type == "mle-laplace") type <- "mle-eb"
+  if (!"visreg_model" %in% names(object)) {
+    if (type_was_missing || type == "mle-laplace") {
+      msg <- paste0("Note what used to be the default sdmTMB residuals ",
+        "(before version 0.4.3.9005) are now `type = 'mle-eb'`. We recommend using ",
+        "the current default `'mle-mvn'`, which takes one sample from the approximate ",
+        "posterior of the random effects or `dharma_residuals()` using a similar ",
+        "approach.")
+      cli_inform(msg)
+    }
   }
+  if (type == "mle-laplace") type <- "mle-eb"
   model_missing <- FALSE
   if (identical(model, c(1, 2))) model_missing <- TRUE
   model <- as.integer(model[[1]])
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-7-visreg.R b/tests/testthat/test-1-visreg.R
similarity index 100%
rename from tests/testthat/test-7-visreg.R
rename to tests/testthat/test-1-visreg.R