diff --git a/core/imports/filename.py b/core/imports/filename.py
index 92ff026a..7fa9c420 100644
--- a/core/imports/filename.py
+++ b/core/imports/filename.py
@@ -15,8 +15,32 @@ _TRACK_PATTERNS = (
 
 
 def extract_track_number_from_filename(filename: str, title: str = None) -> int:
-    """Extract track number from a filename. Returns 1 if not found."""
-    basename = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(filename))[0].strip()
+    """Extract track number from a filename. Returns 1 if not found.
+
+    Use ``extract_explicit_track_number`` instead when the caller needs
+    to distinguish "track 1" from "unknown" — staging-file readers in
+    particular MUST NOT conflate a bare title (no numeric prefix) with
+    track 1, or every untagged album-bundle file gets imported as
+    ``track_number=1`` and downstream callers can't recover the real
+    number from authoritative metadata (Spotify track list, etc.).
+    """
+    num = extract_explicit_track_number(filename)
+    return num if num > 0 else 1
+
+
+def extract_explicit_track_number(filename: str) -> int:
+    """Extract a track number only when the filename visibly carries one.
+
+    Returns the parsed track number when the basename starts with a
+    recognizable numeric prefix (``"01 - Title"``, ``"1-03 Title"``,
+    ``"(01) Title"``, ``"[01] Title"``); returns ``0`` when no such
+    prefix is present. This is the contract staging readers want —
+    "unknown" must stay unknown so a downstream consumer with better
+    info (Spotify metadata, MusicBrainz, etc.) can fill it in.
+    """
+    basename = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(str(filename or "")))[0].strip()
+    if not basename:
+        return 0
 
     match = re.match(r"^\d[\-\.](\d{1,2})\s*[\-\.]\s*", basename)
     if match:
@@ -30,7 +54,7 @@ def extract_track_number_from_filename(filename: str, title: str = None) -> int:
         if 1 <= num <= 999:
             return num
 
-    return 1
+    return 0
 
 
 def parse_filename_metadata(filename: str) -> Dict[str, Any]:
diff --git a/core/imports/staging.py b/core/imports/staging.py
index 748cbb11..76a42beb 100644
--- a/core/imports/staging.py
+++ b/core/imports/staging.py
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@ import threading
 from typing import Any, Dict, Iterable, List, Optional, Tuple
 
 from core.imports.paths import docker_resolve_path
-from core.imports.filename import extract_track_number_from_filename
+from core.imports.filename import (
+    extract_explicit_track_number,
+    extract_track_number_from_filename,
+)
 from utils.logging_config import get_logger
 
 logger = get_logger("imports.staging")
@@ -103,12 +106,19 @@ def read_staging_file_metadata(file_path: str, filename: Optional[str] = None) -
     if not albumartist:
         albumartist = artist
 
-    track_number = extract_track_number_from_filename(filename or file_path)
+    # Use the strict extractor here: when the filename has no visible
+    # track-number prefix, return 0 instead of pretending it's track 1.
+    # Downstream consumers (staging match in core/downloads/staging.py)
+    # will then fall through to authoritative metadata (track_info from
+    # the original Spotify / API source) rather than locking the import
+    # to track_number=1 for every file in the bundle.
+    track_number = extract_explicit_track_number(filename or file_path)
     try:
-        # Preserve tag-based numbers when present, but still fall back to the filename parser.
         tag_track_number = _first_tag("tracknumber", "track_number")
         if tag_track_number:
-            track_number = int(str(tag_track_number).split("/")[0].strip() or track_number)
+            parsed_tag = int(str(tag_track_number).split("/")[0].strip())
+            if parsed_tag > 0:
+                track_number = parsed_tag
     except (TypeError, ValueError):
         pass
 
diff --git a/tests/imports/test_import_file_ops.py b/tests/imports/test_import_file_ops.py
index 16e68ad7..ce9ecd4a 100644
--- a/tests/imports/test_import_file_ops.py
+++ b/tests/imports/test_import_file_ops.py
@@ -5,16 +5,40 @@ from core.imports.file_ops import (
     cleanup_empty_directories,
     safe_move_file,
 )
-from core.imports.filename import extract_track_number_from_filename
+from core.imports.filename import (
+    extract_explicit_track_number,
+    extract_track_number_from_filename,
+)
 from core.imports.staging import read_staging_file_metadata
 
 
 def test_extract_track_number_from_filename_handles_common_patterns():
     assert extract_track_number_from_filename("01 - Song.mp3") == 1
     assert extract_track_number_from_filename("1-03 - Song.mp3") == 3
+    # Bare filename keeps the auto-import-friendly default of 1 — there's
+    # no upstream metadata to recover from in that flow.
     assert extract_track_number_from_filename("Artist - Song.mp3") == 1
 
 
+def test_extract_explicit_track_number_returns_zero_when_no_prefix():
+    """Staging readers need to distinguish 'track 1' from 'unknown'.
+
+    Pinned because:
+    - the legacy extractor defaults to 1 (auto-import semantics),
+    - staging file scanners that conflate the two end up writing every
+      file in an untagged album bundle to track_number=1.
+    """
+    # Bare titles with no numeric prefix → 0 (unknown).
+    assert extract_explicit_track_number("Artist - Song.mp3") == 0
+    assert extract_explicit_track_number("Cha-La Head-Cha-La.flac") == 0
+    assert extract_explicit_track_number("") == 0
+    # Real prefixes still parse correctly.
+    assert extract_explicit_track_number("01 - Song.mp3") == 1
+    assert extract_explicit_track_number("(03) Song.mp3") == 3
+    # Disc-track format requires a separator after the track number.
+    assert extract_explicit_track_number("1-07 - Song.mp3") == 7
+
+
 def test_safe_move_file_replaces_existing_destination(tmp_path):
     src = tmp_path / "source.flac"
     dst_dir = tmp_path / "dest"
@@ -92,6 +116,27 @@ def test_read_staging_file_metadata_falls_back_to_filename_track_number(monkeypa
     assert metadata["disc_number"] == 1
 
 
+def test_read_staging_file_metadata_returns_zero_track_when_unknown(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    """Bare filename + no tags → track_number=0, not 1.
+
+    Pre-fix this returned 1 because the filename extractor's default
+    was 1. The bug caused every untagged file in an album-bundle
+    download to land in the staging cache with track_number=1, which
+    then short-circuited the downstream resolution chain that should
+    have picked up the real number from track_info.
+    """
+    file_path = tmp_path / "Cha-La Head-Cha-La.flac"
+    file_path.write_text("fake")
+
+    fake_mutagen = types.ModuleType("mutagen")
+    fake_mutagen.File = lambda path, easy=True: None
+    monkeypatch.setitem(sys.modules, "mutagen", fake_mutagen)
+
+    metadata = read_staging_file_metadata(str(file_path), file_path.name)
+
+    assert metadata["track_number"] == 0
+
+
 def test_read_staging_file_metadata_uses_filename_fallbacks_when_tags_are_invalid(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
     file_path = tmp_path / "02 - Song Three.flac"
     file_path.write_text("fake")
diff --git a/webui/static/helper.js b/webui/static/helper.js
index bc1bd645..ce7a9108 100644
--- a/webui/static/helper.js
+++ b/webui/static/helper.js
@@ -3421,6 +3421,7 @@ const WHATS_NEW = {
         { title: 'ListenBrainz Sync tab', desc: 'new ListenBrainz tab on the Sync page, between Beatport and Import. lists your "For You" / "My Playlists" / "Collaborative" LB playlists in one place. clicking a card kicks off the same discovery → sync → mirror flow you already get from the Discover page (no duplicate UI behind the scenes, just a new entry point). once mirrored, LB playlists participate in Auto-Sync schedules + pipeline automations like any other source. needs ListenBrainz connected in Settings → Connections.', page: 'sync' },
         { title: 'Last.fm Radio Sync tab', desc: 'sibling to the ListenBrainz tab — lists your generated Last.fm Radio playlists alongside the rest of the Sync sources. same discovery → mirror flow under the hood, just a different entry point. new Last.fm radios are still generated from the Discover page by picking a seed track; this tab is for syncing existing ones. mirrors auto-trim when Last.fm Radio cache rotates so old radios don\'t pile up.', page: 'sync' },
         { title: 'SoulSync Discovery Sync tab', desc: 'last of the unified-tab trio. surfaces your personalized SoulSync Discovery playlists (decade mixes, hidden gems, popular picks, daily mixes, discovery shuffle, etc.) on the Sync page. clicking a card regenerates the playlist + mirrors it under a stable synthetic id, so the same mirror updates in place every Auto-Sync refresh. tracks come out already matched against Spotify / iTunes / Deezer so there\'s no discovery hop — straight to download / sync.', page: 'sync' },
+        { title: 'Fix: album-bundle downloads all landing as track 1', desc: 'soulseek album-bundle downloads (and any other untagged release-staging path) were importing every track with track_number=1. the staging-file reader was using the auto-import\'s filename extractor that defaults to 1 when no NN- prefix is present in the filename — so for albums like Ryoto\'s "Cha-La Head-Cha-La" where slskd hands you bare titles, every file got "track 1" stamped on it. now the staging path uses a strict extractor that returns 0 when it can\'t see an explicit prefix, so the downstream resolver correctly falls through to the authoritative Spotify metadata and the right track numbers land in the library.' },
     ],
     '2.6.2': [
         { date: 'May 24, 2026 — 2.6.2 release' },