diff --git a/MediaBrowser.Providers/TV/EpisodeMetadataService.cs b/MediaBrowser.Providers/TV/EpisodeMetadataService.cs
index 31f0687114..596ca8d201 100644
--- a/MediaBrowser.Providers/TV/EpisodeMetadataService.cs
+++ b/MediaBrowser.Providers/TV/EpisodeMetadataService.cs
@@ -109,5 +109,15 @@ public class EpisodeMetadataService : MetadataService<Episode, EpisodeInfo>
         {
             targetItem.IndexNumberEnd = sourceItem.IndexNumberEnd;
         }
+
+        // Episode season numbers can be set from path parsing before local metadata is merged.
+        // When a provider supplies an explicit season, prefer it during provider->temp and temp->item merges,
+        // but avoid clobbering provider data when existing metadata is backfilled into temp.
+        if (mergeMetadataSettings
+            && sourceItem.ParentIndexNumber.HasValue
+            && targetItem.ParentIndexNumber != sourceItem.ParentIndexNumber)
+        {
+            targetItem.ParentIndexNumber = sourceItem.ParentIndexNumber;
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Jellyfin.Providers.Tests/TV/EpisodeMetadataServiceTests.cs b/tests/Jellyfin.Providers.Tests/TV/EpisodeMetadataServiceTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8f5b1b3c48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Jellyfin.Providers.Tests/TV/EpisodeMetadataServiceTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+using System;
+using MediaBrowser.Controller.Configuration;
+using MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities.TV;
+using MediaBrowser.Controller.IO;
+using MediaBrowser.Controller.Library;
+using MediaBrowser.Controller.Persistence;
+using MediaBrowser.Controller.Providers;
+using MediaBrowser.Model.Entities;
+using MediaBrowser.Model.IO;
+using MediaBrowser.Providers.Manager;
+using MediaBrowser.Providers.TV;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions;
+using Moq;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace Jellyfin.Providers.Tests.TV;
+
+public class EpisodeMetadataServiceTests
+{
+    private readonly TestEpisodeMetadataService _service = new();
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void MergeData_ProviderSeasonOverridesPathDerivedSeason()
+    {
+        var source = new MetadataResult<Episode>
+        {
+            Item = new Episode
+            {
+                ParentIndexNumber = 2
+            }
+        };
+
+        var target = new MetadataResult<Episode>
+        {
+            Item = new Episode
+            {
+                ParentIndexNumber = 1
+            }
+        };
+
+        _service.Merge(source, target, replaceData: false, mergeMetadataSettings: true);
+
+        Assert.Equal(2, target.Item.ParentIndexNumber);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void MergeData_BackfillExistingMetadata_DoesNotOverrideProviderSeason()
+    {
+        var existingMetadata = new MetadataResult<Episode>
+        {
+            Item = new Episode
+            {
+                ParentIndexNumber = 1
+            }
+        };
+
+        var temp = new MetadataResult<Episode>
+        {
+            Item = new Episode
+            {
+                ParentIndexNumber = 2
+            }
+        };
+
+        _service.Merge(existingMetadata, temp, replaceData: false, mergeMetadataSettings: false);
+
+        Assert.Equal(2, temp.Item.ParentIndexNumber);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void MergeData_MissingProviderSeasonKeepsExistingSeason()
+    {
+        var source = new MetadataResult<Episode>
+        {
+            Item = new Episode()
+        };
+
+        var target = new MetadataResult<Episode>
+        {
+            Item = new Episode
+            {
+                ParentIndexNumber = 1
+            }
+        };
+
+        _service.Merge(source, target, replaceData: false, mergeMetadataSettings: true);
+
+        Assert.Equal(1, target.Item.ParentIndexNumber);
+    }
+
+    private sealed class TestEpisodeMetadataService : EpisodeMetadataService
+    {
+        public TestEpisodeMetadataService()
+            : base(
+                Mock.Of<IServerConfigurationManager>(),
+                NullLogger<EpisodeMetadataService>.Instance,
+                Mock.Of<IProviderManager>(),
+                Mock.Of<IFileSystem>(),
+                Mock.Of<ILibraryManager>(),
+                Mock.Of<IExternalDataManager>(),
+                Mock.Of<IItemRepository>())
+        {
+        }
+
+        public void Merge(MetadataResult<Episode> source, MetadataResult<Episode> target, bool replaceData, bool mergeMetadataSettings)
+        {
+            MergeData(source, target, Array.Empty<MetadataField>(), replaceData, mergeMetadataSettings);
+        }
+    }
+}