diff --git a/src/components/tabs/tabbed_content/tabbed_content.test.tsx b/src/components/tabs/tabbed_content/tabbed_content.test.tsx
index 79522ff9e42..c809b6842df 100644
--- a/src/components/tabs/tabbed_content/tabbed_content.test.tsx
+++ b/src/components/tabs/tabbed_content/tabbed_content.test.tsx
@@ -121,5 +121,32 @@ describe('EuiTabbedContent', () => {
       );
       expect(getAllByRole('tab')[1]).toHaveAttribute('aria-selected', 'true');
     });
+
+    it('resets the selected tab to the first if the `tabs` content completely changes', () => {
+      const { rerender, getAllByRole, getByTestSubject } = render(
+        <EuiTabbedContent tabs={tabs} />
+      );
+
+      fireEvent.click(getByTestSubject('kibanaTab'));
+      expect(getAllByRole('tab')[1]).toHaveAttribute('aria-selected', 'true');
+
+      rerender(
+        <EuiTabbedContent
+          tabs={[
+            {
+              id: 'hello',
+              name: 'New tab 1',
+              content: <p>Hello</p>,
+            },
+            {
+              id: 'world',
+              name: 'New tab 2',
+              content: <p>World</p>,
+            },
+          ]}
+        />
+      );
+      expect(getAllByRole('tab')[0]).toHaveAttribute('aria-selected', 'true');
+    });
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/components/tabs/tabbed_content/tabbed_content.tsx b/src/components/tabs/tabbed_content/tabbed_content.tsx
index 4ed1f74727c..d8f4c736825 100644
--- a/src/components/tabs/tabbed_content/tabbed_content.tsx
+++ b/src/components/tabs/tabbed_content/tabbed_content.tsx
@@ -137,19 +137,6 @@ export class EuiTabbedContent extends Component<
     }
   };
 
-  static getDerivedStateFromProps(
-    nextProps: EuiTabbedContentProps,
-    currentState: EuiTabbedContentState
-  ) {
-    if (!nextProps.tabs?.find((tab) => tab.id === currentState.selectedTabId)) {
-      return {
-        ...currentState,
-        selectedTabId: nextProps?.tabs[0]?.id,
-      };
-    }
-    return null;
-  }
-
   render() {
     const {
       className,
@@ -168,9 +155,10 @@ export class EuiTabbedContent extends Component<
       externalSelectedTab ||
       tabs.find(
         (tab: EuiTabbedContentTab) => tab.id === this.state.selectedTabId
-      );
+      ) ||
+      tabs[0]; // Fall back to the first tab if a selected tab can't be found
 
-    const { content: selectedTabContent, id: selectedTabId } = selectedTab!;
+    const { content: selectedTabContent, id: selectedTabId } = selectedTab;
 
     return (
       <div className={className} {...rest}>