diff --git a/packages/components/src/components/dropdown-select/dropdown-select.spec.ts b/packages/components/src/components/dropdown-select/dropdown-select.spec.ts
index 201b20318e..7aa1bd97da 100644
--- a/packages/components/src/components/dropdown-select/dropdown-select.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/components/src/components/dropdown-select/dropdown-select.spec.ts
@@ -123,4 +123,65 @@ describe('DropdownSelect', function () {
       expect(changeSpy).not.toBeCalled();
     });
   });
+
+  describe('focus outline (issue #2428)', () => {
+    it('should NOT have steal-focus part when a non-first item is initially selected and dropdown is closed', async () => {
+      const page = await newSpecPage({
+        components: [DropdownSelect],
+        html: `
+          <scale-dropdown-select value="cedric">
+            <scale-dropdown-select-item value="caspar">Caspar</scale-dropdown-select-item>
+            <scale-dropdown-select-item value="cedric">Cedric</scale-dropdown-select-item>
+            <scale-dropdown-select-item value="cem">Cem</scale-dropdown-select-item>
+          </scale-dropdown-select>`,
+      });
+
+      const selectEl = page.doc.querySelector('scale-dropdown-select');
+      const baseEl = selectEl.shadowRoot.querySelector(
+        '[part~="select"]'
+      ) as HTMLElement;
+
+      // The part attribute must NOT contain "steal-focus" while dropdown is closed,
+      // regardless of which item is initially selected.
+      expect(baseEl.getAttribute('part')).not.toContain('steal-focus');
+    });
+
+    it('should NOT have steal-focus part when the last item is initially selected and dropdown is closed', async () => {
+      const page = await newSpecPage({
+        components: [DropdownSelect],
+        html: `
+          <scale-dropdown-select value="cem">
+            <scale-dropdown-select-item value="caspar">Caspar</scale-dropdown-select-item>
+            <scale-dropdown-select-item value="cedric">Cedric</scale-dropdown-select-item>
+            <scale-dropdown-select-item value="cem">Cem</scale-dropdown-select-item>
+          </scale-dropdown-select>`,
+      });
+
+      const selectEl = page.doc.querySelector('scale-dropdown-select');
+      const baseEl = selectEl.shadowRoot.querySelector(
+        '[part~="select"]'
+      ) as HTMLElement;
+
+      expect(baseEl.getAttribute('part')).not.toContain('steal-focus');
+    });
+
+    it('should NOT have steal-focus part when first item is initially selected and dropdown is closed', async () => {
+      const page = await newSpecPage({
+        components: [DropdownSelect],
+        html: `
+          <scale-dropdown-select value="caspar">
+            <scale-dropdown-select-item value="caspar">Caspar</scale-dropdown-select-item>
+            <scale-dropdown-select-item value="cedric">Cedric</scale-dropdown-select-item>
+            <scale-dropdown-select-item value="cem">Cem</scale-dropdown-select-item>
+          </scale-dropdown-select>`,
+      });
+
+      const selectEl = page.doc.querySelector('scale-dropdown-select');
+      const baseEl = selectEl.shadowRoot.querySelector(
+        '[part~="select"]'
+      ) as HTMLElement;
+
+      expect(baseEl.getAttribute('part')).not.toContain('steal-focus');
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/components/src/components/dropdown-select/dropdown-select.tsx b/packages/components/src/components/dropdown-select/dropdown-select.tsx
index 463b79c411..8e5285cf92 100644
--- a/packages/components/src/components/dropdown-select/dropdown-select.tsx
+++ b/packages/components/src/components/dropdown-select/dropdown-select.tsx
@@ -279,17 +279,24 @@ export class DropdownSelect {
 
   @Watch('value')
   valueChange(newValue) {
-    this.currentIndex = readOptions(this.hostElement).findIndex(
-      ({ value }) => value === newValue
-    );
+    // Do not set currentIndex while the dropdown is closed. Doing so would add
+    // the `steal-focus` CSS part and suppress the focus outline.
+    // However, when the dropdown is already open, controlled/programmatic value
+    // updates must keep currentIndex in sync so the highlighted option and
+    // aria-activedescendant stay aligned with the selected value.
+    if (this.open && Array.isArray(this.options)) {
+      this.currentIndex = this.options.findIndex(
+        (option) => option.value === newValue
+      );
+    }
+
     this.updateInputHidden(newValue);
   }
 
   connectedCallback() {
-    this.currentIndex =
-      readOptions(this.hostElement).findIndex(
-        ({ value }) => value === this.value
-      ) || -1;
+    // currentIndex intentionally starts at -1 (the @State() default).
+    // The dropdown is closed on init, so steal-focus must not be applied.
+    // currentIndex is set to the selected item's index when the dropdown opens.
   }
 
   componentDidRender() {
@@ -376,6 +383,12 @@ export class DropdownSelect {
       this.comboEl.scrollIntoView({ behavior: 'smooth', block: 'nearest' });
       this.comboEl.focus();
       this.currentIndex = -1;
+    } else {
+      // Initialize currentIndex to the currently selected item so that keyboard
+      // navigation starts from the right position and the item is highlighted.
+      this.currentIndex = readOptions(this.hostElement).findIndex(
+        ({ value }) => value === this.value
+      );
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/visual-tests/setup.js b/packages/visual-tests/setup.js
index 997ca763c9..a9cb337136 100644
--- a/packages/visual-tests/setup.js
+++ b/packages/visual-tests/setup.js
@@ -22,7 +22,16 @@ module.exports = async (jestConfig) => {
     res.sendFile('index.html');
   });
 
-  global.__SERVER__ = app.listen(3123);
+  await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const server = app.listen(3123, '0.0.0.0', () => {
+      console.log(
+        '\nScale Visual Tests: Storybook server listening on 0.0.0.0:3123'
+      );
+      resolve();
+    });
+    server.on('error', reject);
+    global.__SERVER__ = server;
+  });
 
   await setupPuppeteer(jestConfig);
 };
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index 0000000000..593d236e96
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diff --git a/packages/visual-tests/src/dropdown-select.visual.spec.js b/packages/visual-tests/src/dropdown-select.visual.spec.js
index 55e8cbe586..be1ececdaa 100644
--- a/packages/visual-tests/src/dropdown-select.visual.spec.js
+++ b/packages/visual-tests/src/dropdown-select.visual.spec.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-describe.skip('DropdownSelect', () => {
+describe('DropdownSelect', () => {
   describe.each(['light', 'dark'])('%p', (mode) => {
     beforeAll(async () => {
       await global.runColorSetup('components-dropdown-select--standard', mode);