diff --git a/pkg/catalog/config/constants.go b/pkg/catalog/config/constants.go
index 5d4a4a0d2..a9de026d8 100644
--- a/pkg/catalog/config/constants.go
+++ b/pkg/catalog/config/constants.go
@@ -46,18 +46,21 @@ const (
 // if the current version is outdated
 func IsOutdatedVersion(current, latest string) bool {
 	if latest == "" {
-		// if pdtm api call failed it's assumed that the current version is outdated
-		// and it will be confirmed while updating from GitHub
-		// this fixes `version string empty` errors
-		return true
+		// NOTE(dwisiswant0): if PDTM API call failed or returned empty, we
+		// cannot determine if templates are outdated w/o additional checks
+		// return false to avoid unnecessary updates.
+		return false
 	}
+
 	current = trimDevIfExists(current)
 	currentVer, _ := semver.NewVersion(current)
 	newVer, _ := semver.NewVersion(latest)
+
 	if currentVer == nil || newVer == nil {
-		// fallback to naive comparison
-		return current == latest
+		// fallback to naive comparison - return true only if they are different
+		return current != latest
 	}
+
 	return newVer.GreaterThan(currentVer)
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/installer/template.go b/pkg/installer/template.go
index 9e56f12a1..d9f3d5ae1 100644
--- a/pkg/installer/template.go
+++ b/pkg/installer/template.go
@@ -94,7 +94,24 @@ func (t *TemplateManager) UpdateIfOutdated() error {
 	if !fileutil.FolderExists(config.DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory) {
 		return t.FreshInstallIfNotExists()
 	}
-	if config.DefaultConfig.NeedsTemplateUpdate() {
+
+	needsUpdate := config.DefaultConfig.NeedsTemplateUpdate()
+
+	// NOTE(dwisiswant0): if PDTM API data is not available
+	// (LatestNucleiTemplatesVersion is empty) but we have a current template
+	// version, so we MUST verify against GitHub directly.
+	if !needsUpdate && config.DefaultConfig.LatestNucleiTemplatesVersion == "" && config.DefaultConfig.TemplateVersion != "" {
+		ghrd, err := updateutils.NewghReleaseDownloader(config.OfficialNucleiTemplatesRepoName)
+		if err == nil {
+			latestVersion := ghrd.Latest.GetTagName()
+			if config.IsOutdatedVersion(config.DefaultConfig.TemplateVersion, latestVersion) {
+				needsUpdate = true
+				gologger.Debug().Msgf("PDTM API unavailable, verified update needed via GitHub API: %s -> %s", config.DefaultConfig.TemplateVersion, latestVersion)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if needsUpdate {
 		return t.updateTemplatesAt(config.DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory)
 	}
 	return nil
@@ -142,7 +159,14 @@ func (t *TemplateManager) updateTemplatesAt(dir string) error {
 		return errorutil.NewWithErr(err).Msgf("failed to install templates at %s", dir)
 	}
 
-	gologger.Info().Msgf("Your current nuclei-templates %s are outdated. Latest is %s\n", config.DefaultConfig.TemplateVersion, ghrd.Latest.GetTagName())
+	latestVersion := ghrd.Latest.GetTagName()
+	currentVersion := config.DefaultConfig.TemplateVersion
+
+	if config.IsOutdatedVersion(currentVersion, latestVersion) {
+		gologger.Info().Msgf("Your current nuclei-templates %s are outdated. Latest is %s\n", currentVersion, latestVersion)
+	} else {
+		gologger.Debug().Msgf("Updating nuclei-templates from %s to %s (forced update)\n", currentVersion, latestVersion)
+	}
 
 	// write templates to disk
 	if err := t.writeTemplatesToDisk(ghrd, dir); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/installer/template_test.go b/pkg/installer/template_test.go
index 952c44596..435797b1f 100644
--- a/pkg/installer/template_test.go
+++ b/pkg/installer/template_test.go
@@ -59,3 +59,42 @@ func TestTemplateInstallation(t *testing.T) {
 	require.FileExists(t, config.DefaultConfig.GetIgnoreFilePath())
 	t.Logf("Installed %d templates", counter)
 }
+
+func TestIsOutdatedVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	testCases := []struct {
+		current  string
+		latest   string
+		expected bool
+		desc     string
+	}{
+		// Test the empty latest version case (main bug fix)
+		{"v10.2.7", "", false, "Empty latest version should not trigger update"},
+
+		// Test same versions
+		{"v10.2.7", "v10.2.7", false, "Same versions should not trigger update"},
+
+		// Test outdated version
+		{"v10.2.6", "v10.2.7", true, "Older version should trigger update"},
+
+		// Test newer current version (edge case)
+		{"v10.2.8", "v10.2.7", false, "Newer current version should not trigger update"},
+
+		// Test dev versions
+		{"v10.2.7-dev", "v10.2.7", false, "Dev version matching release should not trigger update"},
+		{"v10.2.6-dev", "v10.2.7", true, "Outdated dev version should trigger update"},
+
+		// Test invalid semver fallback
+		{"invalid-version", "v10.2.7", true, "Invalid current version should trigger update (fallback)"},
+		{"v10.2.7", "invalid-version", true, "Invalid latest version should trigger update (fallback)"},
+		{"same-invalid", "same-invalid", false, "Same invalid versions should not trigger update (fallback)"},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tc.desc, func(t *testing.T) {
+			result := config.IsOutdatedVersion(tc.current, tc.latest)
+			require.Equal(t, tc.expected, result,
+				"IsOutdatedVersion(%q, %q) = %t, expected %t",
+				tc.current, tc.latest, result, tc.expected)
+		})
+	}
+}