diff --git a/sound/mpd/Makefile b/sound/mpd/Makefile
index d70d501737..45abd2a6be 100644
--- a/sound/mpd/Makefile
+++ b/sound/mpd/Makefile
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@
 include $(TOPDIR)/rules.mk
 
 PKG_NAME:=mpd
-PKG_VERSION:=0.23.16
-PKG_RELEASE:=2
+PKG_VERSION:=0.23.17
+PKG_RELEASE:=1
 
 PKG_SOURCE:=$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION).tar.xz
 PKG_SOURCE_URL:=https://www.musicpd.org/download/mpd/0.23
-PKG_HASH:=9668e36df80de485683c962d02845bf314d8a08e6141af7afeff76401e32b2c1
+PKG_HASH:=a86f4fe811695743b08db82a9f1a840b8918bb4f46b06f48aa1d8d1b5386dff2
 
 PKG_MAINTAINER:=Alexandru Ardelean <ardeleanalex@gmail.com>
 PKG_LICENSE:=GPL-2.0-or-later
diff --git a/sound/mpd/files/mpd.init b/sound/mpd/files/mpd.init
index f89049d6cc..93bffd1e5f 100644
--- a/sound/mpd/files/mpd.init
+++ b/sound/mpd/files/mpd.init
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ start_service() {
 	local pld lport
 
 	#create mpd directories from config
-	pld=$(grep ^playlist_directory "$CONFIGFILE" | cut -d "\"" -f 2 | sed "s/~/\/root/g")
+	pld=$(grep ^playlist_directory "$CONFIGFILE" | head -1 | cut -d '"' -f 2 | sed "s/~/\/root/g")
+	[ -z "$pld" ] && pld="/tmp/mpd"
 	if [ ! -d "$pld" ]; then
 		mkdir -m 0755 -p "$pld"
 		chown $USER:$GROUP $pld
diff --git a/sound/mpd/patches/020-string-view.patch b/sound/mpd/patches/020-string-view.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index 75ad50efbb..0000000000
--- a/sound/mpd/patches/020-string-view.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
---- a/src/tag/GenParseName.cxx
-+++ b/src/tag/GenParseName.cxx
-@@ -21,7 +21,13 @@
- 
- #include <cstdlib>
- #include <map>
-+#if __has_include("<string_view>")
- #include <string_view>
-+using std::string_view;
-+#else
-+#include <boost/utility/string_view.hpp>
-+using boost::string_view;
-+#endif
- 
- #include <stdio.h>
- 
-@@ -41,7 +47,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
- 
- 	FILE *out = fopen(argv[1], "w");
- 
--	std::map<std::string_view, TagType> names;
-+	std::map<string_view, TagType> names;
- 	for (unsigned i = 0; i < unsigned(TAG_NUM_OF_ITEM_TYPES); ++i)
- 		names[tag_item_names[i]] = TagType(i);
- 
diff --git a/sound/mpd/test.sh b/sound/mpd/test.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4e0c413362
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sound/mpd/test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+_mpd_test() {
+	# Version check
+	mpd --version | grep -F "$2"
+
+	# Confirm the binary reports at least one supported output plugin;
+	# "null" is always compiled in and safe for testing.
+	mpd --version | grep -i "null"
+
+	# Test playlist_directory parsing logic from the init script:
+	# explicit value
+	_cfg=/tmp/mpd-pldtest.conf
+	printf 'playlist_directory "/tmp/mpd-pld-explicit"\n' > "$_cfg"
+	_pld=$(grep ^playlist_directory "$_cfg" | head -1 | cut -d '"' -f 2 | sed "s/~/\/root/g")
+	[ -z "$_pld" ] && _pld="/tmp/mpd"
+	[ "$_pld" = "/tmp/mpd-pld-explicit" ] || {
+		echo "FAIL: pld='$_pld', expected /tmp/mpd-pld-explicit"
+		rm -f "$_cfg"; exit 1
+	}
+
+	# Test default fallback when playlist_directory is absent
+	printf '# playlist_directory commented out\n' > "$_cfg"
+	_pld=$(grep ^playlist_directory "$_cfg" | head -1 | cut -d '"' -f 2 | sed "s/~/\/root/g")
+	[ -z "$_pld" ] && _pld="/tmp/mpd"
+	[ "$_pld" = "/tmp/mpd" ] || {
+		echo "FAIL: pld='$_pld', expected /tmp/mpd default"
+		rm -f "$_cfg"; exit 1
+	}
+	rm -f "$_cfg"
+
+	# Set playlist_directory in the installed config so the init script
+	# has a valid path to create on first service start.
+	grep -q ^playlist_directory /etc/mpd.conf || \
+		printf '\nplaylist_directory "/tmp/mpd"\n' >> /etc/mpd.conf
+}
+
+case "$1" in
+mpd-full|mpd-mini)
+	_mpd_test "$@"
+	;;
+esac