diff --git a/esphome/components/light/light_call.cpp b/esphome/components/light/light_call.cpp
index 7b28065e4e..2b13b40a16 100644
--- a/esphome/components/light/light_call.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/light/light_call.cpp
@@ -213,17 +213,19 @@ LightColorValues LightCall::validate_() {
   // Flag whether an explicit turn off was requested, in which case we'll also stop the effect.
   bool explicit_turn_off_request = this->has_state() && !this->state_;
 
-  // Turn off when brightness is set to zero, and reset brightness (so that it has nonzero brightness when turned on).
-  if (this->has_brightness() && this->brightness_ == 0.0f) {
+  // Treat zero brightness as an implicit turn-off when no state was explicitly requested.
+  if (this->has_brightness() && this->brightness_ == 0.0f && !this->has_state()) {
     this->state_ = false;
     this->set_flag_(FLAG_HAS_STATE);
-    if (color_mode & ColorCapability::BRIGHTNESS) {
-      // Reset brightness so the light has nonzero brightness when turned back on.
+  }
+
+  // Make sure a turn-on makes the light visible: if the resulting brightness would be zero
+  // (e.g. restored from a brightness=0 turn-off), reset it to full brightness.
+  if (this->has_state() && this->state_ && (color_mode & ColorCapability::BRIGHTNESS)) {
+    float brightness = this->has_brightness() ? this->brightness_ : this->parent_->remote_values.get_brightness();
+    if (brightness == 0.0f) {
       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);
+      this->set_flag_(FLAG_HAS_BRIGHTNESS);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_light_calls.py b/tests/integration/test_light_calls.py
index 0eaf5af91b..a3a4103f5c 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_light_calls.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_light_calls.py
@@ -322,6 +322,49 @@ async def test_light_calls(
         assert state.state is True
         assert state.brightness == pytest.approx(0.75)
 
+        # Test 31: Setting brightness to 0 without an explicit state implicitly turns
+        # the light off; turning it back on (without an explicit brightness) then
+        # restores full brightness so the light is visible again.
+        client.light_command(key=rgbcw_light.key, state=True, brightness=0.5)
+        state = await wait_for_state_change(rgbcw_light.key)
+        assert state.state is True
+        assert state.brightness == pytest.approx(0.5)
+
+        # Brightness 0 with no explicit state -> implicit turn-off
+        client.light_command(key=rgbcw_light.key, brightness=0.0)
+        state = await wait_for_state_change(rgbcw_light.key)
+        assert state.state is False
+        assert state.brightness == pytest.approx(0.0)
+        # Turning on without an explicit brightness restores it to full brightness
+        client.light_command(key=rgbcw_light.key, state=True)
+        state = await wait_for_state_change(rgbcw_light.key)
+        assert state.state is True
+        assert state.brightness == pytest.approx(1.0)
+
+        # Test 31b: An explicit turn-on with brightness 0 still resets to full
+        # brightness - a turn-on must never leave the light on-but-invisible. This
+        # is the same path the restore logic exercises (set_state(true) +
+        # set_brightness(0) from a persisted brightness=0 turn-off).
+        client.light_command(key=rgbcw_light.key, state=True, brightness=0.0)
+        state = await wait_for_state_change(rgbcw_light.key)
+        assert state.state is True
+        assert state.brightness == pytest.approx(1.0)
+
+        # Test 32: Turning a light on when it already has nonzero brightness leaves
+        # the brightness unchanged (the reset only happens when brightness is 0).
+        client.light_command(key=rgbcw_light.key, state=True, brightness=0.4)
+        state = await wait_for_state_change(rgbcw_light.key)
+        assert state.brightness == pytest.approx(0.4)
+
+        client.light_command(key=rgbcw_light.key, state=False)
+        state = await wait_for_state_change(rgbcw_light.key)
+        assert state.state is False
+
+        client.light_command(key=rgbcw_light.key, state=True)
+        state = await wait_for_state_change(rgbcw_light.key)
+        assert state.state is True
+        assert state.brightness == pytest.approx(0.4)
+
         # Final cleanup - turn all lights off
         for light in lights:
             client.light_command(