diff --git a/esphome/components/esp8266/waveform_stubs.cpp b/esphome/components/esp8266/waveform_stubs.cpp
index 51b84c7e05..686e03c6a9 100644
--- a/esphome/components/esp8266/waveform_stubs.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/esp8266/waveform_stubs.cpp
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@
 
 #include <cstdint>
 
+// Empty namespace to satisfy linter - actual stubs must be at global scope
+namespace esphome::esp8266 {}  // namespace esphome::esp8266
+
 extern "C" {
 
 // Called by Arduino GPIO code to stop any waveform on a pin
diff --git a/script/ci-custom.py b/script/ci-custom.py
index 609d89403f..f0676d594b 100755
--- a/script/ci-custom.py
+++ b/script/ci-custom.py
@@ -552,6 +552,8 @@ def convert_path_to_relative(abspath, current):
     exclude=[
         "esphome/components/libretiny/generate_components.py",
         "esphome/components/web_server/__init__.py",
+        # const.py has absolute import in docstring example for external components
+        "esphome/components/esp8266/const.py",
     ],
 )
 def lint_relative_py_import(fname: Path, line, col, content):