diff --git a/src/room/LobbyView.tsx b/src/room/LobbyView.tsx
index eab29262..8172a3ee 100644
--- a/src/room/LobbyView.tsx
+++ b/src/room/LobbyView.tsx
@@ -184,6 +184,16 @@ export const LobbyView: FC<Props> = ({
         null) as LocalVideoTrack | null,
     [tracks],
   );
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (videoTrack && videoInputId === undefined) {
+      // If we have a video track but no videoInputId,
+      // we have to update the available devices. So that we select the first
+      // available video input device as the default instead of the `""` id.
+      devices.requestDeviceNames();
+    }
+  }, [devices, videoInputId, videoTrack]);
+
   useTrackProcessorSync(videoTrack);
   const showSwitchCamera = useShowSwitchCamera(
     useObservable(
diff --git a/src/state/MediaDevices.ts b/src/state/MediaDevices.ts
index f441918b..884e1ef7 100644
--- a/src/state/MediaDevices.ts
+++ b/src/state/MediaDevices.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import {
   type Observable,
 } from "rxjs";
 import { createMediaDeviceObserver } from "@livekit/components-core";
-import { logger } from "matrix-js-sdk/lib/logger";
+import { logger as rootLogger } from "matrix-js-sdk/lib/logger";
 
 import {
   audioInput as audioInputSetting,
@@ -33,10 +33,12 @@ import {
 } from "../controls";
 import { getUrlParams } from "../UrlParams";
 import { platform } from "../Platform";
+import { switchWhen } from "../utils/observable";
 
 // This hardcoded id is used in EX ios! It can only be changed in coordination with
 // the ios swift team.
 const EARPIECE_CONFIG_ID = "earpiece-id";
+const logger = rootLogger.getChild("[MediaDevices]");
 
 export type DeviceLabel =
   | { type: "name"; name: string }
@@ -96,13 +98,25 @@ function availableRawDevices$(
   usingNames$: Observable<boolean>,
   scope: ObservableScope,
 ): Observable<MediaDeviceInfo[]> {
+  const logError = (e: Error): void =>
+    logger.error("Error creating MediaDeviceObserver", e);
+  const devices$ = createMediaDeviceObserver(kind, logError, false);
+  const devicesWithNames$ = createMediaDeviceObserver(kind, logError, true);
+
   return usingNames$.pipe(
-    switchMap((usingNames) =>
-      createMediaDeviceObserver(
-        kind,
-        (e) => logger.error("Error creating MediaDeviceObserver", e),
-        usingNames,
-      ),
+    switchMap((withNames) =>
+      withNames
+        ? // It might be that there is already a media stream running somewhere,
+          // and so we can do without requesting a second one. Only switch to the
+          // device observer that explicitly requests the names if we see that
+          // names are in fact missing from the initial device enumeration.
+          devices$.pipe(
+            switchWhen(
+              (devices, i) => i === 0 && devices.every((d) => !d.label),
+              devicesWithNames$,
+            ),
+          )
+        : devices$,
     ),
     startWith([]),
     scope.state(),
@@ -181,7 +195,11 @@ class AudioInput implements MediaDevice<DeviceLabel, SelectedAudioInputDevice> {
   public constructor(
     private readonly usingNames$: Observable<boolean>,
     private readonly scope: ObservableScope,
-  ) {}
+  ) {
+    this.available$.subscribe((available) => {
+      logger.info("[audio-input] available devices:", available);
+    });
+  }
 }
 
 class AudioOutput
@@ -232,7 +250,11 @@ class AudioOutput
   public constructor(
     private readonly usingNames$: Observable<boolean>,
     private readonly scope: ObservableScope,
-  ) {}
+  ) {
+    this.available$.subscribe((available) => {
+      logger.info("[audio-output] available devices:", available);
+    });
+  }
 }
 
 class ControlledAudioOutput
@@ -298,6 +320,9 @@ class ControlledAudioOutput
         window.controls.onOutputDeviceSelect?.(device.id);
       }
     });
+    this.available$.subscribe((available) => {
+      logger.info("[controlled-output] available devices:", available);
+    });
   }
 }
 
@@ -323,7 +348,12 @@ class VideoInput implements MediaDevice<DeviceLabel, SelectedDevice> {
   public constructor(
     private readonly usingNames$: Observable<boolean>,
     private readonly scope: ObservableScope,
-  ) {}
+  ) {
+    // This also has the purpose of subscribing to the available devices
+    this.available$.subscribe((available) => {
+      logger.info("[video-input] available devices:", available);
+    });
+  }
 }
 
 export class MediaDevices {
diff --git a/src/utils/observable.ts b/src/utils/observable.ts
index efda2182..22f7c455 100644
--- a/src/utils/observable.ts
+++ b/src/utils/observable.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,17 @@ SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only OR LicenseRef-Element-Commercial
 Please see LICENSE in the repository root for full details.
 */
 
-import { type Observable, defer, finalize, scan, startWith, tap } from "rxjs";
+import {
+  type Observable,
+  concat,
+  defer,
+  finalize,
+  map,
+  scan,
+  startWith,
+  takeWhile,
+  tap,
+} from "rxjs";
 
 const nothing = Symbol("nothing");
 
@@ -39,6 +49,29 @@ export function accumulate<State, Event>(
     events$.pipe(scan(update, initial), startWith(initial));
 }
 
+const switchSymbol = Symbol("switch");
+
+/**
+ * RxJS operator which behaves like the input Observable (A) until it emits a
+ * value satisfying the given predicate, then behaves like Observable B.
+ *
+ * The switch is immediate; the value that triggers the switch will not be
+ * present in the output.
+ */
+export function switchWhen<A, B>(
+  predicate: (a: A, index: number) => boolean,
+  b$: Observable<B>,
+) {
+  return (a$: Observable<A>): Observable<A | B> =>
+    concat(
+      a$.pipe(
+        map((a, index) => (predicate(a, index) ? switchSymbol : a)),
+        takeWhile((a) => a !== switchSymbol),
+      ) as Observable<A>,
+      b$,
+    );
+}
+
 /**
  * Reads the current value of a state Observable without reacting to future
  * changes.