2 files changed, 26 insertions, 9 deletions
diff --git a/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/Folder.cs b/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/Folder.cs
index b1f7f29bad..f475379cc3 100644
--- a/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/Folder.cs
+++ b/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/Folder.cs
@@ -43,11 +43,7 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities
     public class Folder : BaseItem
     {
         private IEnumerable<BaseItem> _children;
-
-        public Folder()
-        {
-            LinkedChildren = Array.Empty<LinkedChild>();
-        }
+        private LinkedChild[] _linkedChildren = [];
 
         public static IUserViewManager UserViewManager { get; set; }
 
@@ -63,7 +59,27 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities
         /// Gets or sets the linked children.
         /// </summary>
         [JsonIgnore]
-        public LinkedChild[] LinkedChildren { get; set; }
+        public LinkedChild[] LinkedChildren
+        {
+            get => _linkedChildren;
+            set
+            {
+                _linkedChildren = value;
+
+                // Assigning the collection means the caller knows the complete set of links.
+                LinkedChildrenLoaded = true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets a value indicating whether <see cref="LinkedChildren"/> holds the stored set of links.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// An unloaded instance carries an empty array that means "unknown", not "no children" —
+        /// persisting it would delete every link the item has.
+        /// </remarks>
+        [JsonIgnore]
+        public bool LinkedChildrenLoaded { get; private set; }
 
         [JsonIgnore]
         public DateTime? DateLastMediaAdded { get; set; }
diff --git a/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/UserViewBuilder.cs b/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/UserViewBuilder.cs
index 9ba103cc8b..aed11e5cc3 100644
--- a/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/UserViewBuilder.cs
+++ b/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/UserViewBuilder.cs
@@ -461,11 +461,12 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities
                     var counts = libraryManager.GetPlayedAndTotalCountBatch(folderIds, user);
                     var isPlayedValue = query.IsPlayed.Value;
 
-                    return itemList.Where(i =>
+                    return itemList.Where(item =>
                     {
-                        if (i.IsFolder && counts.TryGetValue(i.Id, out var c))
+                        if (item is Folder)
                         {
-                            return (c.Total > 0 && c.Played == c.Total) == isPlayedValue;
+                            var itemCount = counts.GetValueOrDefault(item.Id);
+                            return (itemCount.Played >= itemCount.Total) == isPlayedValue;
                         }
 
                         return true;