Force correct weapon switching, when switching to shield?

I recently started playing Dark Messiah of might and magic again, now the problem I seem to be having that when I switch from a weapon without shield to a weapon with shield, it automatically equips the hammer in my inventory instead of equipping my longsword.

Is there a way to force the game to use the weapon I want when switching to a shield?

It appears that the game binds some weapon to always be equipped with the shield. For me, "Long Sword" (3 damage) is always selected over the superior "Sword of the Disciple" (5 damage, next to the shield). Inventory order has no effect in the game's selection.
I tried throwing weaker one-hand weapons away, but then the game doesn't equip the shield at all unless you have a sword in hand. Your only option is to equip the weapon you intend to use with the shield first, it seems.