diff --git a/esphome/components/mhz19/mhz19.cpp b/esphome/components/mhz19/mhz19.cpp
index 4c29e80e0e..581d010aaf 100644
--- a/esphome/components/mhz19/mhz19.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/mhz19/mhz19.cpp
@@ -53,12 +53,12 @@ void MHZ19Component::update() {
 bool MHZ19Component::mhz19_write_command_(const uint8_t *command, uint8_t *response) {
   this->write_array(command, MHZ19_REQUEST_LENGTH);
   this->write_byte(mhz19_checksum(command));
+  this->flush();
 
   if (response == nullptr)
     return true;
 
   bool ret = this->read_array(response, MHZ19_RESPONSE_LENGTH);
-  this->flush();
   return ret;
 }
 float MHZ19Component::get_setup_priority() const { return setup_priority::DATA; }