diff --git a/pkg/service/handlers/placeholder_discovery_test.go b/pkg/service/handlers/placeholder_discovery_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b6cfa9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/service/handlers/placeholder_discovery_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+package handlers
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/gesellix/bose-soundtouch/pkg/models"
+	"github.com/gesellix/bose-soundtouch/pkg/service/datastore"
+	"github.com/gesellix/bose-soundtouch/pkg/service/marge"
+	"github.com/gesellix/bose-soundtouch/pkg/service/setup"
+)
+
+// TestHandleDiscoveredDevice_SeedsPlaceholdersWithoutSpotify guards the
+// "Spotify-agnostic" property of placeholder seeding: a brand-new device
+// being discovered must get its SPOTIFY/SpotifyConnectUserName placeholder
+// even when no Spotify service is configured and no OAuth account is linked.
+// That's the use case where the operator hasn't set anything up yet but the
+// user pushes Spotify Connect from their phone and wants to preset it.
+func TestHandleDiscoveredDevice_SeedsPlaceholdersWithoutSpotify(t *testing.T) {
+	tempDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "placeholder-discovery-*")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("MkdirTemp: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() { _ = os.RemoveAll(tempDir) }()
+
+	const (
+		deviceID  = "AABBCCDDEEFF"
+		accountID = "7654321"
+	)
+
+	deviceInfoXML := `<info deviceID="` + deviceID + `">
+<name>Bare Speaker</name>
+<type>SoundTouch 20</type>
+<margeAccountUUID>` + accountID + `</margeAccountUUID>
+<components>
+<component>
+<componentCategory>SCM</componentCategory>
+<softwareVersion>27.0.6</softwareVersion>
+<serialNumber>SN-PLACEHOLDER-TEST</serialNumber>
+</component>
+</components>
+<networkInfo type="SCM">
+<macAddress>` + deviceID + `</macAddress>
+<ipAddress>127.0.0.1</ipAddress>
+</networkInfo>
+</info>`
+
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		if r.URL.Path == "/info" {
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/xml")
+			fmt.Fprint(w, deviceInfoXML)
+
+			return
+		}
+
+		http.NotFound(w, r)
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	deviceIP := server.URL[len("http://"):]
+
+	ds := datastore.NewDataStore(tempDir)
+	sm := setup.NewManager(server.URL, ds, nil)
+	srv := NewServer(ds, sm, "http://localhost", false, false, false)
+
+	// Deliberately NOT calling srv.SetSpotifyService — the whole point is
+	// that placeholder seeding must work without any music-service config.
+	if srv.spotifyService != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("test precondition: spotifyService should be nil for this scenario")
+	}
+
+	srv.handleDiscoveredDevice(models.DiscoveredDevice{
+		Host:            deviceIP,
+		Name:            "Bare Speaker",
+		DiscoveryMethod: "UPnP",
+	})
+
+	sources, err := ds.GetConfiguredSources(accountID, deviceID)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("GetConfiguredSources: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	found := false
+	for i := range sources {
+		if sources[i].SourceKey.Type == "SPOTIFY" && sources[i].SourceKey.Account == marge.PlaceholderSpotifyConnectAccount {
+			found = true
+			break
+		}
+	}
+
+	if !found {
+		t.Errorf("expected SPOTIFY/%s placeholder after discovery (without Spotify config), got %d sources",
+			marge.PlaceholderSpotifyConnectAccount, len(sources))
+		for i := range sources {
+			t.Logf("  source[%d]: %s/%s (id=%s)", i, sources[i].SourceKey.Type, sources[i].SourceKey.Account, sources[i].ID)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/service/handlers/server.go b/pkg/service/handlers/server.go
index b459237..01a47a6 100644
--- a/pkg/service/handlers/server.go
+++ b/pkg/service/handlers/server.go
@@ -719,14 +719,9 @@ func (s *Server) registerSpotifySourceForDevice(deviceIP string, accounts []spot
 		registered = true
 	}
 
-	// Seed firmware-internal placeholder sources (e.g. SPOTIFY/SpotifyConnectUserName)
-	// so storePreset payloads originating from Spotify-Connect playback bind to the
-	// Connect placeholder rather than the OAuth-brokered entry above. Idempotent.
-	if registered && deviceID != "" {
-		if err := marge.EnsurePlaceholderSources(s.ds, accountID, deviceID); err != nil {
-			log.Printf("[Spotify Watchdog] Failed to seed placeholder sources for account %s device %s: %v", accountID, deviceID, err)
-		}
-	}
+	// Note: firmware-internal placeholder sources (SPOTIFY/SpotifyConnectUserName, …)
+	// are seeded at device-discovery time by handleDiscoveredDevice — they live
+	// independently of whether any music service is OAuth-linked.
 
 	// Tell the speaker its sources list changed so it re-fetches from marge.
 	// Without this its on-device Sources.xml stays stale until something else
@@ -925,6 +920,14 @@ func (s *Server) handleDiscoveredDevice(d models.DiscoveredDevice) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// 9. Seed firmware-internal placeholder sources (e.g. SPOTIFY/SpotifyConnectUserName)
+	// so storePreset payloads carrying speaker-managed sourceAccounts bind to the
+	// right placeholder. Spotify-agnostic — runs even when no music service is
+	// linked yet, since Spotify Connect from a phone doesn't need our OAuth setup.
+	if err := marge.EnsurePlaceholderSources(s.ds, accountID, deviceID); err != nil {
+		log.Printf("Failed to seed placeholder sources for %s/%s: %v", accountID, deviceID, err)
+	}
+
 	log.Printf("Successfully saved device %s (%s) with MAC-based deviceID: %s", info.Name, d.Host, deviceID)
 }
 
@@ -978,6 +981,11 @@ func (s *Server) handleDiscoveredDeviceFallback(d models.DiscoveredDevice) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Seed firmware-internal placeholder sources — same as the live-info path.
+	if err := marge.EnsurePlaceholderSources(s.ds, accountID, deviceID); err != nil {
+		log.Printf("Failed to seed placeholder sources for %s/%s: %v", accountID, deviceID, err)
+	}
+
 	log.Printf("Successfully saved device %s (%s) with fallback deviceID: %s", info.Name, d.Host, deviceID)
 }