diff --git a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
index 37edabb169..5c925268aa 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
@@ -1516,13 +1516,7 @@ void APIConnection::process_batch_() {
     }
 
     // Encode the message directly from the stored ProtoMessage
-    bool success = item.message->encode(batch_buffer);
-
-    if (!success) {
-      ESP_LOGW(TAG, "Failed to encode message type %u", item.message->get_message_type());
-      // Since we pre-calculated sizes, encoding should not fail
-      // If it does, we have a serious issue
-    }
+    item.message->encode(batch_buffer);
   }
 
   // Send all collected packets
diff --git a/esphome/components/api/proto.h b/esphome/components/api/proto.h
index 6287210479..e882dd1812 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/proto.h
+++ b/esphome/components/api/proto.h
@@ -330,7 +330,7 @@ class ProtoMessage {
   virtual void encode(ProtoWriteBuffer buffer) const = 0;
   void decode(const uint8_t *buffer, size_t length);
   virtual void calculate_size(uint32_t &total_size) const = 0;
-  virtual uint16_t get_message_type() const = 0;
+  virtual uint16_t get_message_type() const { return 0; }  // Default for nested types
 #ifdef HAS_PROTO_MESSAGE_DUMP
   std::string dump() const;
   virtual void dump_to(std::string &out) const = 0;