diff --git a/src/components/MapView/GPSMapView.tsx b/src/components/MapView/GPSMapView.tsx
index 7910e3d9b759..950bf3932161 100644
--- a/src/components/MapView/GPSMapView.tsx
+++ b/src/components/MapView/GPSMapView.tsx
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import type {MapState} from '@rnmapbox/maps';
 
 import {useFocusEffect} from '@react-navigation/native';
 import Mapbox, {MarkerView} from '@rnmapbox/maps';
-import {getForegroundPermissionsAsync, requestForegroundPermissionsAsync} from 'expo-location';
+import {getForegroundPermissionsAsync} from 'expo-location';
 import {useEffect, useRef, useState} from 'react';
 import {View} from 'react-native';
 import {useSharedValue} from 'react-native-reanimated';
@@ -55,14 +55,15 @@ function GPSMapView({accessToken, style, mapPadding, styleURL, pitchEnabled, way
 
     const [foregroundLocationPermissionsGranted, setForegroundLocationPermissionsGranted] = useState<boolean | null>(null);
 
-    // Request foreground location permissions if not granted yet to determine if we can use followUserLocation prop on the map camera
+    // Check (never request) foreground location permissions to determine if we can use the followUserLocation prop on the map camera.
+    // Requesting here would trigger an OS prompt on open without a prior explicit user action, so we only read the current status.
     useFocusEffect(() => {
         if (isOffline) {
             return;
         }
 
         let ignore = false;
-        requestForegroundPermissionsAsync().then(({granted}) => {
+        getForegroundPermissionsAsync().then(({granted}) => {
             if (ignore) {
                 return;
             }
diff --git a/src/components/MapView/MapView.tsx b/src/components/MapView/MapView.tsx
index 1d4531771ba3..acba06272d65 100644
--- a/src/components/MapView/MapView.tsx
+++ b/src/components/MapView/MapView.tsx
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import type {MapState} from '@rnmapbox/maps';
 
 import {useFocusEffect, useNavigation} from '@react-navigation/native';
 import Mapbox, {MarkerView} from '@rnmapbox/maps';
+import {getForegroundPermissionsAsync} from 'expo-location';
 import {memo, useCallback, useEffect, useImperativeHandle, useMemo, useRef, useState} from 'react';
 import {View} from 'react-native';
 import {useSharedValue} from 'react-native-reanimated';
@@ -114,10 +115,37 @@ function MapView({
                 return;
             }
 
-            getCurrentPosition((params) => {
-                const currentCoords = {longitude: params.coords.longitude, latitude: params.coords.latitude};
-                setUserLocation(currentCoords);
-            }, setCurrentPositionToInitialState);
+            // Only read the device location when permission is ALREADY granted. We never request it here,
+            // so opening the map cannot trigger an OS permission prompt without a prior explicit user action.
+            let ignore = false;
+            getForegroundPermissionsAsync().then(({granted}) => {
+                if (ignore) {
+                    return;
+                }
+                if (!granted) {
+                    // Pass the permission-denied error so any stale cached location is cleared and the map falls back to initialState.
+                    setCurrentPositionToInitialState({
+                        code: GeolocationErrorCode.PERMISSION_DENIED,
+                        message: 'User denied access to location.',
+                    });
+                    return;
+                }
+
+                getCurrentPosition((params) => {
+                    if (ignore) {
+                        return;
+                    }
+                    const currentCoords = {
+                        longitude: params.coords.longitude,
+                        latitude: params.coords.latitude,
+                    };
+                    setUserLocation(currentCoords);
+                }, setCurrentPositionToInitialState);
+            });
+
+            return () => {
+                ignore = true;
+            };
         }, [isOffline, shouldPanMapToCurrentPosition, setCurrentPositionToInitialState]),
     );