diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a66fbe4c..f555668f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Fixed
 
-- **XC `get_live_streams` and `/panel_api.php` no longer crash when a visible channel has no channel number.** Since `channel_number` became nullable, auto-sync and compact numbering can leave a channel with `effective_channel_number=None` while it remains visible in output (`hidden_from_output=False`). The XC live-stream number map skipped those rows but still tried to emit them, causing `KeyError` on `get_live_streams` and a 500 on `/panel_api.php` (`xc_get_info`). Null-number channels are now deferred into the existing collision-free integer assignment pass (same second loop as fractional numbers) and receive the next available `num`; `_xc_channel_entry` also falls back to `channel.id` if a row is still unmapped. HDHR lineup behaviour is unchanged (null-number channels remain omitted there).
+- **XC live streams, `/panel_api.php`, and `/xmltv.php` no longer crash when a visible channel has no channel number.** Since `channel_number` became nullable, auto-sync and compact numbering can leave a channel with `effective_channel_number=None` while it remains visible in output (`hidden_from_output=False`). The XC live-stream number map skipped those rows but still tried to emit them, causing `KeyError` on `get_live_streams` and a 500 on `/panel_api.php` (`xc_get_info`). Authenticated XMLTV export (`/xmltv.php`, profile EPG with a logged-in user) had the same gap and could fail chunk-cache rebuilds with `KeyError` on `channel_num_map[channel.id]`. Null-number channels are now deferred into the existing collision-free integer assignment pass (same second loop as fractional numbers) and receive the next available integer; `_xc_channel_entry` also falls back to `channel.id` if a row is still unmapped. HDHR lineup behaviour is unchanged (null-number channels remain omitted there).
 - **System events and Connect dispatch no longer close the DB connection mid-call outside worker contexts.** `log_system_event()` and `dispatch_event_system()` always called `close_old_connections()` in `finally` blocks, which broke Django `TestCase` transactions and could interrupt in-flight ORM work when Connect/plugin handlers ran synchronously. Closes are now limited to gevent uWSGI workers (and the Celery sync-dispatch path where gevent is patched but no hub runs). Celery workers still reset connections via existing `task_postrun` / `task_prerun` hooks on the standard PostgreSQL backend (no geventpool).
 - **Connect `trigger_event` no longer releases DB connections during plugin discovery.** Event dispatch calls `discover_plugins(use_cache=True)` to resolve plugin handlers; its unconditional `close_old_connections()` could tear down the caller's connection before `log_system_event()` or Schedules Direct refresh finished. Discovery from event dispatch now passes `release_connections=False`; boot-time discovery (`worker_process_init`, `post_migrate`, admin reload) still releases connections by default.
 - **EPG Celery tasks no longer reset the DB connection when invoked outside a worker.** `_release_task_db_connection()` is gated on `_is_celery_worker_context()` so synchronous test runs and in-process task calls do not close the test database connection; active Celery tasks still reset poisoned connections after transient ORM errors.
diff --git a/apps/output/epg.py b/apps/output/epg.py
index d34d209e..46c2b922 100644
--- a/apps/output/epg.py
+++ b/apps/output/epg.py
@@ -1192,26 +1192,26 @@ def generate_epg(request, profile_name=None, user=None, *, xc_catchup_prev_days=
         # XC clients require integer channel numbers, so we need to ensure no conflicts
         channel_num_map = {}
         if user is not None:
-            # This is an XC client - build collision-free mapping
             used_numbers = set()
+            deferred_channels = []
 
-            # First pass: assign integers for channels that already have integer numbers
             for channel in channels:
                 effective_num = channel.effective_channel_number
-                if effective_num is not None and effective_num == int(effective_num):
+                if effective_num is None:
+                    deferred_channels.append((channel.id, None))
+                elif effective_num == int(effective_num):
                     num = int(effective_num)
                     channel_num_map[channel.id] = num
                     used_numbers.add(num)
+                else:
+                    deferred_channels.append((channel.id, effective_num))
 
-            # Second pass: assign integers for channels with float numbers
-            for channel in channels:
-                effective_num = channel.effective_channel_number
-                if effective_num is not None and effective_num != int(effective_num):
-                    candidate = int(effective_num)
-                    while candidate in used_numbers:
-                        candidate += 1
-                    channel_num_map[channel.id] = candidate
-                    used_numbers.add(candidate)
+            for channel_id, effective_num in deferred_channels:
+                candidate = 1 if effective_num is None else int(effective_num)
+                while candidate in used_numbers:
+                    candidate += 1
+                channel_num_map[channel_id] = candidate
+                used_numbers.add(candidate)
 
         # Host/port/scheme are constant per request; precompute logo URL prefix once.
         _base_url = build_absolute_uri_with_port(request, "")
diff --git a/apps/output/tests/test_views.py b/apps/output/tests/test_views.py
index 2968cdd3..6543a0ae 100644
--- a/apps/output/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/apps/output/tests/test_views.py
@@ -937,6 +937,53 @@ class XcLiveStreamsNullChannelNumberTests(TestCase):
         self.assertNotIn(by_id[unnumbered.id]["num"], {5})
 
 
+class XcXmltvNullChannelNumberTests(OutputEndpointTestMixin, TestCase):
+    """XC XMLTV EPG must not crash when a visible channel has no channel number."""
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        super().setUp()
+        self.client = Client()
+        self.user = User.objects.create_user(
+            username=f"xc-epg-{uuid4().hex[:8]}",
+            password="pass",
+            user_level=10,
+            custom_properties={"xc_password": "xcpass"},
+        )
+        self.group = ChannelGroup.objects.create(name=f"Group {uuid4().hex[:8]}")
+
+    def test_xmltv_epg_assigns_number_for_null_channel_number(self):
+        Channel.objects.create(
+            name="Numbered",
+            channel_number=5,
+            channel_group=self.group,
+            user_level=0,
+        )
+        Channel.objects.create(
+            name="Unnumbered",
+            channel_number=None,
+            channel_group=self.group,
+            user_level=0,
+            hidden_from_output=False,
+        )
+
+        response = self.client.get(
+            reverse("xc_xmltv"),
+            {
+                "username": self.user.username,
+                "password": "xcpass",
+                "tvg_id_source": "channel_number",
+            },
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        content = _response_text(response)
+        try:
+            ET.fromstring(content)
+        except ET.ParseError as exc:
+            self.fail(f"Generated XMLTV EPG is not valid XML: {exc}")
+        self.assertIn("Unnumbered", content)
+
+
 class GenerateEpgPrevDaysTests(SimpleTestCase):
     """Profile EPG keeps legacy prev_days=0 unless URL or user setting says otherwise."""