diff --git a/homeassistant/components/thread/discovery.py b/homeassistant/components/thread/discovery.py
index 1006a44d5d3..d07469f36fb 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/thread/discovery.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/thread/discovery.py
@@ -57,25 +57,29 @@ def async_discovery_data_from_service(
         except UnicodeDecodeError:
             return None
 
-    ext_addr = service.properties.get(b"xa")
-    ext_pan_id = service.properties.get(b"xp")
-    network_name = try_decode(service.properties.get(b"nn"))
-    model_name = try_decode(service.properties.get(b"mn"))
+    # Service properties are always bytes if they are set from the network.
+    # For legacy backwards compatibility zeroconf allows properties to be set
+    # as strings but we never do that so we can safely cast here.
+    service_properties = cast(dict[bytes, bytes | None], service.properties)
+    ext_addr = service_properties.get(b"xa")
+    ext_pan_id = service_properties.get(b"xp")
+    network_name = try_decode(service_properties.get(b"nn"))
+    model_name = try_decode(service_properties.get(b"mn"))
     server = service.server
-    vendor_name = try_decode(service.properties.get(b"vn"))
-    thread_version = try_decode(service.properties.get(b"tv"))
+    vendor_name = try_decode(service_properties.get(b"vn"))
+    thread_version = try_decode(service_properties.get(b"tv"))
     unconfigured = None
     brand = KNOWN_BRANDS.get(vendor_name)
     if brand == "homeassistant":
         # Attempt to detect incomplete configuration
-        if (state_bitmap_b := service.properties.get(b"sb")) is not None:
+        if (state_bitmap_b := service_properties.get(b"sb")) is not None:
             try:
                 state_bitmap = StateBitmap.from_bytes(state_bitmap_b)
                 if not state_bitmap.is_active:
                     unconfigured = True
             except ValueError:
                 _LOGGER.debug("Failed to decode state bitmap in service %s", service)
-        if service.properties.get(b"at") is None:
+        if service_properties.get(b"at") is None:
             unconfigured = True
 
     return ThreadRouterDiscoveryData(
@@ -168,10 +172,19 @@ class ThreadRouterDiscovery:
                 return
 
             _LOGGER.debug("_add_update_service %s %s", name, service)
+            # Service properties are always bytes if they are set from the network.
+            # For legacy backwards compatibility zeroconf allows properties to be set
+            # as strings but we never do that so we can safely cast here.
+            service_properties = cast(dict[bytes, bytes | None], service.properties)
+
+            if not (xa := service_properties.get(b"xa")):
+                _LOGGER.debug("_add_update_service failed to find xa in %s", service)
+                return
+
             # We use the extended mac address as key, bail out if it's missing
             try:
-                extended_mac_address = service.properties[b"xa"].hex()
-            except (KeyError, UnicodeDecodeError) as err:
+                extended_mac_address = xa.hex()
+            except UnicodeDecodeError as err:
                 _LOGGER.debug("_add_update_service failed to parse service %s", err)
                 return
 
diff --git a/homeassistant/components/zeroconf/__init__.py b/homeassistant/components/zeroconf/__init__.py
index f77909b1bdd..b85f9f0fd83 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/zeroconf/__init__.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/zeroconf/__init__.py
@@ -553,11 +553,17 @@ def info_from_service(service: AsyncServiceInfo) -> ZeroconfServiceInfo | None:
             break
     if not host:
         return None
+
+    # Service properties are always bytes if they are set from the network.
+    # For legacy backwards compatibility zeroconf allows properties to be set
+    # as strings but we never do that so we can safely cast here.
+    service_properties = cast(dict[bytes, bytes | None], service.properties)
+
     properties: dict[str, Any] = {
         k.decode("ascii", "replace"): None
         if v is None
         else v.decode("utf-8", "replace")
-        for k, v in service.properties.items()
+        for k, v in service_properties.items()
     }
 
     assert service.server is not None, "server cannot be none if there are addresses"
diff --git a/homeassistant/components/zeroconf/manifest.json b/homeassistant/components/zeroconf/manifest.json
index bb0ec29271e..cd7b9e95e75 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/zeroconf/manifest.json
+++ b/homeassistant/components/zeroconf/manifest.json
@@ -8,5 +8,5 @@
   "iot_class": "local_push",
   "loggers": ["zeroconf"],
   "quality_scale": "internal",
-  "requirements": ["zeroconf==0.72.3"]
+  "requirements": ["zeroconf==0.74.0"]
 }
diff --git a/homeassistant/package_constraints.txt b/homeassistant/package_constraints.txt
index 12e8afc3cf7..fa5b52478d0 100644
--- a/homeassistant/package_constraints.txt
+++ b/homeassistant/package_constraints.txt
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ voluptuous-serialize==2.6.0
 voluptuous==0.13.1
 webrtcvad==2.0.10
 yarl==1.9.2
-zeroconf==0.72.3
+zeroconf==0.74.0
 
 # Constrain pycryptodome to avoid vulnerability
 # see https://github.com/home-assistant/core/pull/16238
diff --git a/requirements_all.txt b/requirements_all.txt
index a682ca35542..f5476b8647d 100644
--- a/requirements_all.txt
+++ b/requirements_all.txt
@@ -2752,7 +2752,7 @@ zamg==0.2.4
 zengge==0.2
 
 # homeassistant.components.zeroconf
-zeroconf==0.72.3
+zeroconf==0.74.0
 
 # homeassistant.components.zeversolar
 zeversolar==0.3.1
diff --git a/requirements_test_all.txt b/requirements_test_all.txt
index e1d2fdbc0d4..e77638d777e 100644
--- a/requirements_test_all.txt
+++ b/requirements_test_all.txt
@@ -2025,7 +2025,7 @@ youtubeaio==1.1.5
 zamg==0.2.4
 
 # homeassistant.components.zeroconf
-zeroconf==0.72.3
+zeroconf==0.74.0
 
 # homeassistant.components.zeversolar
 zeversolar==0.3.1