diff --git a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
index 05fc223a06..cb3eef018e 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ void APIConnection::loop() {
       return;
   }
 
-  if (this->helper_->can_write_without_blocking()) {
+  if (!this->deferred_message_queue_.empty() && this->helper_->can_write_without_blocking()) {
     this->deferred_message_queue_.process_queue();
   }
 
diff --git a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.h b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.h
index 0c1f5461f3..dd24802e72 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.h
+++ b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.h
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ class DeferredMessageQueue {
   DeferredMessageQueue(APIConnection *api_connection) : api_connection_(api_connection) {}
   void process_queue();
   void defer(void *source, send_message_t send_message);
+  bool empty() const { return deferred_queue_.empty(); }
 };
 
 class APIConnection : public APIServerConnection {