diff --git a/esphome/components/esp32_ble_client/ble_client_base.cpp b/esphome/components/esp32_ble_client/ble_client_base.cpp
index b9b7c75e0a..351658279f 100644
--- a/esphome/components/esp32_ble_client/ble_client_base.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/esp32_ble_client/ble_client_base.cpp
@@ -136,7 +136,8 @@ void BLEClientBase::disconnect() {
     return;
   }
   if (this->state_ == espbt::ClientState::CONNECTING || this->conn_id_ == UNSET_CONN_ID) {
-    this->log_warning_("Disconnect before connected, disconnect scheduled.");
+    ESP_LOGD(TAG, "[%d] [%s] Disconnect before connected, disconnect scheduled", this->connection_index_,
+             this->address_str_.c_str());
     this->want_disconnect_ = true;
     return;
   }
@@ -284,11 +285,22 @@ bool BLEClientBase::gattc_event_handler(esp_gattc_cb_event_t event, esp_gatt_if_
       this->log_gattc_event_("OPEN");
       // conn_id was already set in ESP_GATTC_CONNECT_EVT
       this->service_count_ = 0;
+
+      // ESP-IDF's BLE stack may send ESP_GATTC_OPEN_EVT after esp_ble_gattc_open() returns an
+      // error, if the error occurred at the BTA/GATT layer. This can result in the event
+      // arriving after we've already transitioned to IDLE state.
+      if (this->state_ == espbt::ClientState::IDLE) {
+        ESP_LOGD(TAG, "[%d] [%s] ESP_GATTC_OPEN_EVT in IDLE state (status=%d), ignoring", this->connection_index_,
+                 this->address_str_.c_str(), param->open.status);
+        break;
+      }
+
       if (this->state_ != espbt::ClientState::CONNECTING) {
         // This should not happen but lets log it in case it does
         // because it means we have a bad assumption about how the
         // ESP BT stack works.
-        this->log_error_("ESP_GATTC_OPEN_EVT wrong state status", param->open.status);
+        ESP_LOGE(TAG, "[%d] [%s] ESP_GATTC_OPEN_EVT in %s state (status=%d)", this->connection_index_,
+                 this->address_str_.c_str(), espbt::client_state_to_string(this->state_), param->open.status);
       }
       if (param->open.status != ESP_GATT_OK && param->open.status != ESP_GATT_ALREADY_OPEN) {
         this->log_gattc_warning_("Connection open", param->open.status);