diff --git a/pkg/service/setup/migration_readiness.go b/pkg/service/setup/migration_readiness.go
index 2ae36ca5..75cd8de8 100644
--- a/pkg/service/setup/migration_readiness.go
+++ b/pkg/service/setup/migration_readiness.go
@@ -58,7 +58,16 @@ func (m *Manager) checkMigrationDataReady(deviceIP string) error {
 	}
 
 	if accountID == "" {
-		return migrationDataNotReadyf("live /info has no paired margeAccountUUID")
+		// An unpaired speaker, typically factory-reset, has no account data to
+		// preserve, so there is nothing for this check to compare and nothing
+		// to lose. Refusing here would also break the documented onboarding
+		// order: the admin UI migrates first and pairs afterwards (see the
+		// "Pairing runs after the URL flip" comment in the setup page), and
+		// MIGRATION-GUIDE.md tells the user to Generate an account ID on a
+		// factory-reset device. Data Sync cannot unblock it either, since it
+		// files an account-less device under "default", which never matches an
+		// empty live account.
+		return nil
 	}
 
 	if !datastore.IsSafeIdentifier(accountID) || !datastore.IsSafeIdentifier(deviceID) {
diff --git a/pkg/service/setup/migration_readiness_test.go b/pkg/service/setup/migration_readiness_test.go
index 767e13d5..77d01b85 100644
--- a/pkg/service/setup/migration_readiness_test.go
+++ b/pkg/service/setup/migration_readiness_test.go
@@ -252,3 +252,27 @@ func assertPresetSnapshotUnchanged(t *testing.T, path string, want []byte) {
 		t.Fatalf("readiness preflight rewrote Presets.xml\n got: %s\nwant: %s", after, want)
 	}
 }
+
+// TestMigrationDataReadinessAllowsUnpairedSpeaker: a factory-reset speaker has
+// no account data to preserve, and the admin UI migrates before it pairs, so
+// refusing here would make onboarding impossible. Data Sync could not unblock
+// it either: an account-less device is filed under "default", which never
+// matches an empty live account.
+func TestMigrationDataReadinessAllowsUnpairedSpeaker(t *testing.T) {
+	speaker := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		if r.URL.Path == "/info" {
+			_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, `<info deviceID="%s"><name>Fresh Speaker</name><margeAccountUUID></margeAccountUUID></info>`, readinessDevice)
+
+			return
+		}
+
+		http.NotFound(w, r)
+	}))
+	defer speaker.Close()
+
+	m := NewManager("http://aftertouch.example:8000", datastore.NewDataStore(t.TempDir()), nil)
+
+	if err := m.checkMigrationDataReady(strings.TrimPrefix(speaker.URL, "http://")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unpaired speaker was refused migration: %v", err)
+	}
+}