diff --git a/esphome/components/light/light_call.cpp b/esphome/components/light/light_call.cpp
index cd45994f625..0b2d391fd6e 100644
--- a/esphome/components/light/light_call.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/light/light_call.cpp
@@ -214,7 +214,14 @@ LightColorValues LightCall::validate_() {
   if (this->has_brightness() && this->brightness_ == 0.0f) {
     this->state_ = false;
     this->set_flag_(FLAG_HAS_STATE);
-    this->brightness_ = 1.0f;
+    if (color_mode & ColorCapability::BRIGHTNESS) {
+      // Reset brightness so the light has nonzero brightness when turned back on.
+      this->brightness_ = 1.0f;
+    } else {
+      // Light doesn't support brightness; clear the flag to avoid a spurious
+      // "brightness not supported" warning during capability validation.
+      this->clear_flag_(FLAG_HAS_BRIGHTNESS);
+    }
   }
 
   // Set color brightness to 100% if currently zero and a color is set.
diff --git a/esphome/components/mdns/mdns_rp2040.cpp b/esphome/components/mdns/mdns_rp2040.cpp
index 0a8e9394615..88f707afd37 100644
--- a/esphome/components/mdns/mdns_rp2040.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/mdns/mdns_rp2040.cpp
@@ -48,9 +48,10 @@ void MDNSComponent::setup() {
   // safely run directly since netif status callbacks fire from IRQ context
   // (PICO_CYW43_ARCH_THREADSAFE_BACKGROUND) while _restart() allocates UDP sockets.
   //
-  // Workaround: defer MDNS.begin() and service registration until WiFi is connected
-  // (has an IP), then call notifyAPChange() on subsequent reconnects to restart
-  // mDNS probing and announcing — all from main loop context so it's thread-safe.
+  // Workaround: defer MDNS.begin() and service registration until the network is
+  // connected (has an IP), then call notifyAPChange() on subsequent reconnects to
+  // restart mDNS probing and announcing — all from main loop context so it's
+  // thread-safe.
   this->set_interval(MDNS_UPDATE_INTERVAL_MS, [this]() {
     bool connected = network::is_connected();
     if (connected && !this->was_connected_) {