diff --git a/src/backend/fold_v1.js b/src/backend/fold_v1.js
index a5d4a96e5..91e71f728 100644
--- a/src/backend/fold_v1.js
+++ b/src/backend/fold_v1.js
@@ -915,33 +915,34 @@ function foldBySpeakers(speakers, sessions, tracksData, reqOpts, next) {
       let thumb = '';
 
       speakers.forEach((speaker) => {
+        // reset thumb for each speaker to avoid carrying over previous value
+        thumb = '';
         if (speaker.photo) {
           thumb = 'images/speakers/thumbnails/' + speaker.photo.split('/').pop();
         }
         const allSessions = getAllSessions(speaker.sessions, sessions, tracksData);
 
-        if (allSessions.length) {
-          speakerslist.push({
-            country: speaker.country,
-            featured: speaker.featured,
-            email: speaker.email,
-            facebook: speaker.facebook,
-            github: speaker.github,
-            linkedin: speaker.linkedin,
-            twitter: speaker.twitter,
-            website: speaker.website,
-            long_biography: checkNullHtml(speaker.long_biography) ? speaker.short_biography : speaker.long_biography,
-            mobile: speaker.mobile,
-            name: speaker.name,
-            thumb: thumb,
-            photo: speaker.photo,
-            organisation: speaker.organisation,
-            position: speaker.position,
-            sessions: allSessions,
-            speaker_id: speaker.id,
-            nameIdSlug: slugify(speaker.name + speaker.id)
-          });
-        }
+        // include every speaker in the generated output, even if they have no sessions
+        speakerslist.push({
+          country: speaker.country,
+          featured: speaker.featured,
+          email: speaker.email,
+          facebook: speaker.facebook,
+          github: speaker.github,
+          linkedin: speaker.linkedin,
+          twitter: speaker.twitter,
+          website: speaker.website,
+          long_biography: checkNullHtml(speaker.long_biography) ? speaker.short_biography : speaker.long_biography,
+          mobile: speaker.mobile,
+          name: speaker.name,
+          thumb: thumb,
+          photo: speaker.photo,
+          organisation: speaker.organisation,
+          position: speaker.position,
+          sessions: allSessions,
+          speaker_id: speaker.id,
+          nameIdSlug: slugify(speaker.name + speaker.id)
+        });
         speakerslist.sort(byProperty('name'));
       });
       next(speakerslist);
diff --git a/src/backend/fold_v2.js b/src/backend/fold_v2.js
index be98b3277..3f7f3047f 100644
--- a/src/backend/fold_v2.js
+++ b/src/backend/fold_v2.js
@@ -967,33 +967,34 @@ function foldBySpeakers(speakers, sessions, tracksData, reqOpts, next) {
       const speakerslist = [];
 
       speakers.forEach((speaker) => {
+        // reset thumb for each speaker to avoid carrying over previous value
+        thumb = '';
         if (speaker['photo-url']) {
           thumb = 'images/speakers/thumbnails/' + speaker['photo-url'].split('/').pop();
         }
         const allSessions = getAllSessions(speaker.sessions, sessions, tracksData);
 
-        if (allSessions.length) {
-          speakerslist.push({
-            country: speaker.country,
-            featured: speaker['is-featured'],
-            email: speaker.email,
-            facebook: speaker.facebook,
-            github: speaker.github,
-            linkedin: speaker.linkedin,
-            twitter: speaker.twitter,
-            website: speaker.website,
-            long_biography: checkNullHtml(speaker['long-biography']) ? speaker['short-biography'] : speaker['long-biography'],
-            mobile: speaker.mobile,
-            name: speaker.name,
-            thumb: thumb,
-            photo: speaker['photo-url'],
-            organisation: speaker.organisation,
-            position: speaker.position,
-            sessions: allSessions,
-            speaker_id: speaker.id,
-            nameIdSlug: slugify(speaker.name + speaker.id)
-          });
-        }
+        // include every speaker in the generated output, even if they have no sessions
+        speakerslist.push({
+          country: speaker.country,
+          featured: speaker['is-featured'],
+          email: speaker.email,
+          facebook: speaker.facebook,
+          github: speaker.github,
+          linkedin: speaker.linkedin,
+          twitter: speaker.twitter,
+          website: speaker.website,
+          long_biography: checkNullHtml(speaker['long-biography']) ? speaker['short-biography'] : speaker['long-biography'],
+          mobile: speaker.mobile,
+          name: speaker.name,
+          thumb: thumb,
+          photo: speaker['photo-url'],
+          organisation: speaker.organisation,
+          position: speaker.position,
+          sessions: allSessions,
+          speaker_id: speaker.id,
+          nameIdSlug: slugify(speaker.name + speaker.id)
+        });
         speakerslist.sort(byProperty('name'));
       });
       next(speakerslist);
diff --git a/test/foldSpeakers.test.js b/test/foldSpeakers.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..756206a99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/foldSpeakers.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+const assert = require('assert');
+const fold = require('../src/backend/fold_v2');
+
+describe('fold_v2.foldBySpeakers', function() {
+  it('includes speakers even if they have no sessions', function(done) {
+    const sessions = [
+      {
+        id: 1,
+        state: 'accepted',
+        title: 'Talk 1',
+        'starts-at': '2025-11-13T10:00:00Z',
+        'ends-at': '2025-11-13T11:00:00Z',
+        track: null,
+        microlocation: null
+      }
+    ];
+
+    const speakers = [
+      {
+        id: 1,
+        name: 'Alice',
+        sessions: [{ id: 1 }],
+        'photo-url': null,
+        'short-biography': '',
+        'long-biography': ''
+      },
+      {
+        id: 2,
+        name: 'Bob',
+        sessions: [],
+        'photo-url': null,
+        'short-biography': '',
+        'long-biography': ''
+      }
+    ];
+
+    const tracksData = [];
+
+    const reqOpts = {
+      assetmode: 'download',
+      email: 'test@example.com',
+      name: 'Test Event',
+      datasource: 'mockjson',
+      apiendpoint: ''
+    };
+
+    fold.foldBySpeakers(speakers, sessions, tracksData, reqOpts, (list) => {
+      try {
+        assert.strictEqual(list.length, 2, 'Expected two speakers in the list');
+        const bob = list.find(s => s.name === 'Bob');
+        assert.ok(bob, 'Bob should be present');
+        assert.deepStrictEqual(bob.sessions, [], 'Bob should have empty sessions array');
+        done();
+      } catch (err) {
+        done(err);
+      }
+    });
+  });
+});