diff --git a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
index e27ce9386c..f8b99c247e 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
@@ -153,7 +153,9 @@ void APIConnection::loop() {
       return;
   }
 
-  this->deferred_message_queue_.process_queue();
+  if (this->can_write_without_blocking()) {
+    this->deferred_message_queue_.process_queue();
+  }
 
   if (!this->list_entities_iterator_.completed())
     this->list_entities_iterator_.advance();