diff --git a/GenOnlineService/Database/Database.MatchHistory.cs b/GenOnlineService/Database/Database.MatchHistory.cs
index aead105..0672868 100644
--- a/GenOnlineService/Database/Database.MatchHistory.cs
+++ b/GenOnlineService/Database/Database.MatchHistory.cs
@@ -467,7 +467,10 @@ public static async Task<ulong> CreatePlaceholderMatchHistory(
 					jsonSlots[member.SlotIndex] = JsonSerializer.Serialize(model);
 
 					// Observers are not active players
-					if (model.side != Constants.OBSERVER_SIDE_VALUE)
+					// This function runs at the start of a match, before observers are assigned
+					// their actual side value. Observers have PLAYERTEMPLATE_RANDOM (-2) at this
+					// point, so use that value to identify and exclude them.
+					if (model.side != -2)
 					{
 						if (playersPerTeam.ContainsKey(model.team))
 						{