diff --git a/src/core/load-dropin.c b/src/core/load-dropin.c
index fd45744261..dc9c44e6d6 100644
--- a/src/core/load-dropin.c
+++ b/src/core/load-dropin.c
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ int unit_load_dropin(Unit *u) {
                 return r;
 
         /* Load .conf dropins */
-        r = unit_find_dropin_paths(u, &l);
+        r = unit_find_dropin_paths(u, /* use_unit_path_cache = */ true, &l);
         if (r <= 0)
                 return 0;
 
diff --git a/src/core/load-dropin.h b/src/core/load-dropin.h
index f0b87d3e9f..141bc7dd0f 100644
--- a/src/core/load-dropin.h
+++ b/src/core/load-dropin.h
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@
 
 /* Read service data supplementary drop-in directories */
 
-static inline int unit_find_dropin_paths(Unit *u, char ***paths) {
+static inline int unit_find_dropin_paths(Unit *u, bool use_unit_path_cache, char ***paths) {
         assert(u);
 
         return unit_file_find_dropin_paths(NULL,
                                            u->manager->lookup_paths.search_path,
-                                           u->manager->unit_path_cache,
+                                           use_unit_path_cache ? u->manager->unit_path_cache : NULL,
                                            ".d", ".conf",
                                            u->id, u->aliases,
                                            paths);
diff --git a/src/core/unit.c b/src/core/unit.c
index 257b0929af..2bdbcdf366 100644
--- a/src/core/unit.c
+++ b/src/core/unit.c
@@ -3809,7 +3809,7 @@ bool unit_need_daemon_reload(Unit *u) {
         if (u->load_state == UNIT_LOADED) {
                 _cleanup_strv_free_ char **dropins = NULL;
 
-                (void) unit_find_dropin_paths(u, &dropins);
+                (void) unit_find_dropin_paths(u, /* use_unit_path_cache = */ false, &dropins);
 
                 if (!strv_equal(u->dropin_paths, dropins))
                         return true;
diff --git a/test/units/TEST-07-PID1.issue-31752.sh b/test/units/TEST-07-PID1.issue-31752.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..89ec07e46b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/units/TEST-07-PID1.issue-31752.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later
+# -*- mode: shell-script; indent-tabs-mode: nil; sh-basic-offset: 4; -*-
+# ex: ts=8 sw=4 sts=4 et filetype=sh
+
+set -eux
+set -o pipefail
+
+# shellcheck source=test/units/util.sh
+. "$(dirname "$0")"/util.sh
+
+# Make sure NeedDaemonReload= considers newly created drop-ins.
+# Issue: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/31752
+
+UNIT=test-issue-31752.service
+
+cleanup() {
+    rm -rf /run/systemd/system/"$UNIT" /run/systemd/system/"$UNIT".d
+    systemctl daemon-reload
+}
+
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+cat > /run/systemd/system/"$UNIT" <<EOF
+[Service]
+ExecStart=/usr/bin/true
+RemainAfterExit=yes
+EOF
+
+systemctl daemon-reload
+systemctl start "$UNIT"
+assert_eq "$(systemctl show -P NeedDaemonReload "$UNIT")" no
+
+mkdir /run/systemd/system/"$UNIT".d
+cat > /run/systemd/system/"$UNIT".d/desc.conf <<EOF
+[Unit]
+Description=Test NeedDaemonReload status after creating drop-in
+EOF
+
+assert_eq "$(systemctl show -P NeedDaemonReload "$UNIT")" yes
+
+rm /run/systemd/system/"$UNIT".d/desc.conf
+
+assert_eq "$(systemctl show -P NeedDaemonReload "$UNIT")" no