diff --git a/esphome/components/esp32_ble_client/ble_client_base.cpp b/esphome/components/esp32_ble_client/ble_client_base.cpp
index 3916fff6ef..45b3ed54a0 100644
--- a/esphome/components/esp32_ble_client/ble_client_base.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/esp32_ble_client/ble_client_base.cpp
@@ -143,7 +143,10 @@ void BLEClientBase::unconditional_disconnect() {
   }
   auto err = esp_ble_gattc_close(this->gattc_if_, this->conn_id_);
   if (err != ESP_OK) {
-    ESP_LOGW(TAG, "[%d] [%s] esp_ble_gattc_close error, err=%d", this->connection_index_, this->address_str_.c_str(),
+    // This is a fatal error, we can't do anything about it.
+    // In the future we might consider App.reboot() here since
+    // the BLE stack is in an indeterminate state.
+    ESP_LOGE(TAG, "[%d] [%s] esp_ble_gattc_close error, err=%d", this->connection_index_, this->address_str_.c_str(),
              err);
   }