diff --git a/src/device/service/DeviceServiceServicerImpl.py b/src/device/service/DeviceServiceServicerImpl.py
index ebbf19607a7c591f3414d0a9b276930a6b7b1c00..0596aa76b7e54ab9c2868edf32d3397f0a13ea50 100644
--- a/src/device/service/DeviceServiceServicerImpl.py
+++ b/src/device/service/DeviceServiceServicerImpl.py
@@ -251,8 +251,14 @@ class DeviceServiceServicerImpl(DeviceServiceServicer):
                 device_id = context_client.SetDevice(device)
                 device = context_client.GetDevice(device_id)
 
-            if request.device_operational_status != DeviceOperationalStatusEnum.DEVICEOPERATIONALSTATUS_UNDEFINED:
-                device.device_operational_status = request.device_operational_status
+            ztp_service_host = get_env_var_name(ServiceNameEnum.ZTP, ENVVAR_SUFIX_SERVICE_HOST)
+            environment_variables = set(os.environ.keys())
+            if ztp_service_host in environment_variables:
+                # ZTP component is deployed; accept status updates
+                if request.device_operational_status != DeviceOperationalStatusEnum.DEVICEOPERATIONALSTATUS_UNDEFINED:
+                    device.device_operational_status = request.device_operational_status
+            else:
+                # ZTP is not deployed; activated during AddDevice and not modified
 
             t4 = time.time()
             # TODO: use of datastores (might be virtual ones) to enable rollbacks