diff --git a/apps/vscode/CHANGELOG.md b/apps/vscode/CHANGELOG.md
index 4e7443ca..2f7505a6 100644
--- a/apps/vscode/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/apps/vscode/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 - Fixed Copilot completions in `.qmd` documents (<https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto/pull/887>).
 - Fixed a bug where the `autoDetectColorScheme` setting could cause equation previews to have a dark text on dark background and vice versa (<https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto/pull/864>).
+- Fix a regression where bash cell execution does not work (<https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto/pull/826>).
 
 ## 1.128.0 (Release on 2026-01-08)
 
diff --git a/apps/vscode/src/host/executors.ts b/apps/vscode/src/host/executors.ts
index af23290e..96035dab 100644
--- a/apps/vscode/src/host/executors.ts
+++ b/apps/vscode/src/host/executors.ts
@@ -153,7 +153,11 @@ const csharpCellExecutor: VSCodeCellExecutor = {
 const bashCellExecutor: VSCodeCellExecutor = {
   language: "bash",
   execute: async (blocks: string[]) => {
-    const terminal = window.activeTerminal || window.createTerminal();
+    // todo: this should probably check that the terminal isn't an interactive terminal for languages
+    // other than R as well...
+    const terminal = window.activeTerminal && window.activeTerminal?.name !== 'R Interactive' ?
+      window.activeTerminal : window.createTerminal();
+
     terminal.show();
     terminal.sendText(blocks.join("\n"));
   },
@@ -283,7 +287,7 @@ export async function ensureRequiredExtension(
       }
     }
   } else {
-    return false;
+    return true;
   }
 }