diff --git a/.changeset/tender-ways-attend.md b/.changeset/tender-ways-attend.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..59737884
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/tender-ways-attend.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@xyflow/react': patch
+---
+
+Consolidate drag handler effects in useDrag to fix programmatic selection issues
diff --git a/examples/react/src/App/routes.ts b/examples/react/src/App/routes.ts
index 055dc9e1..d5bbfe01 100644
--- a/examples/react/src/App/routes.ts
+++ b/examples/react/src/App/routes.ts
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ import MovingHandles from '../examples/MovingHandles';
 import DetachedHandle from '../examples/DetachedHandle';
 import ZIndexMode from '../examples/ZIndexMode';
 import Middlewares from '../examples/Middlewares';
+import NodeSelectionBug from '../examples/NodeSelectionBug';
 
 export interface IRoute {
   name: string;
@@ -390,6 +391,11 @@ const routes: IRoute[] = [
     path: 'z-index-mode',
     component: ZIndexMode,
   },
+  {
+    name: 'Node Selection Bug',
+    path: 'node-selection-bug',
+    component: NodeSelectionBug,
+  },
 ];
 
 export default routes;
diff --git a/examples/react/src/examples/NodeSelectionBug/index.tsx b/examples/react/src/examples/NodeSelectionBug/index.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a587cab3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/react/src/examples/NodeSelectionBug/index.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { Node, ReactFlow, useNodesState } from '@xyflow/react';
+
+import '@xyflow/react/dist/style.css';
+import { useRef } from 'react';
+
+export default function App() {
+  const [nodes, setNodes, onNodesChange] = useNodesState<Node>([
+    {
+      id: '0',
+      position: { x: 0, y: 0 },
+      data: { label: 'Rectangle Select Me First' },
+    },
+  ]);
+  const id = useRef(0);
+  return (
+    <>
+      <button
+        onClick={() =>
+          setNodes((nodes) => [
+            ...nodes.map((node) => ({ ...node, selected: false })),
+            {
+              id: (++id.current).toString(),
+              position: { x: -100, y: 100 * Math.floor((id.current + 1) / 2) },
+              data: { label: `Button Node ${id.current}` },
+              selected: true,
+            },
+            {
+              id: (++id.current).toString(),
+              position: { x: 100, y: (100 * id.current) / 2 },
+              data: { label: `Button Node ${id.current}` },
+              selected: true,
+            },
+          ])
+        }
+      >
+        Click me to add nodes that are already selected.
+      </button>
+      <ReactFlow nodes={nodes} onNodesChange={onNodesChange} fitView></ReactFlow>
+    </>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/packages/react/src/components/NodesSelection/index.tsx b/packages/react/src/components/NodesSelection/index.tsx
index ecaef17b..de118a44 100644
--- a/packages/react/src/components/NodesSelection/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/react/src/components/NodesSelection/index.tsx
@@ -51,11 +51,14 @@ export function NodesSelection<NodeType extends Node>({
     }
   }, [disableKeyboardA11y]);
 
+  const shouldRender = !userSelectionActive && width !== null && height !== null;
+
   useDrag({
     nodeRef,
+    disabled: !shouldRender,
   });
 
-  if (userSelectionActive || !width || !height) {
+  if (!shouldRender) {
     return null;
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/react/src/hooks/useDrag.ts b/packages/react/src/hooks/useDrag.ts
index f7943f98..6b4c7642 100644
--- a/packages/react/src/hooks/useDrag.ts
+++ b/packages/react/src/hooks/useDrag.ts
@@ -52,22 +52,23 @@ export function useDrag({
   }, []);
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (disabled) {
-      xyDrag.current?.destroy();
-    } else if (nodeRef.current) {
-      xyDrag.current?.update({
-        noDragClassName,
-        handleSelector,
-        domNode: nodeRef.current,
-        isSelectable,
-        nodeId,
-        nodeClickDistance,
-      });
-      return () => {
-        xyDrag.current?.destroy();
-      };
+    if (disabled || !nodeRef.current || !xyDrag.current) {
+      return;
     }
-  }, [noDragClassName, handleSelector, disabled, isSelectable, nodeRef, nodeId]);
+
+    xyDrag.current.update({
+      noDragClassName,
+      handleSelector,
+      domNode: nodeRef.current,
+      isSelectable,
+      nodeId,
+      nodeClickDistance,
+    });
+
+    return () => {
+      xyDrag.current?.destroy();
+    };
+  }, [noDragClassName, handleSelector, disabled, isSelectable, nodeRef, nodeId, nodeClickDistance]);
 
   return dragging;
 }