diff --git a/esphome/components/select/select_traits.cpp b/esphome/components/select/select_traits.cpp
index 497bffbe01..a99847c398 100644
--- a/esphome/components/select/select_traits.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/select/select_traits.cpp
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 namespace esphome {
 namespace select {
 
-void SelectTraits::set_options(std::initializer_list<std::string> options) { this->options_ = options; }
+void SelectTraits::set_options(const std::initializer_list<std::string> &options) { this->options_ = options; }
 
 const FixedVector<std::string> &SelectTraits::get_options() const { return this->options_; }
 
diff --git a/esphome/components/select/select_traits.h b/esphome/components/select/select_traits.h
index 826ef14924..eb98d05958 100644
--- a/esphome/components/select/select_traits.h
+++ b/esphome/components/select/select_traits.h
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ namespace select {
 
 class SelectTraits {
  public:
-  void set_options(std::initializer_list<std::string> options);
+  void set_options(const std::initializer_list<std::string> &options);
   const FixedVector<std::string> &get_options() const;
   /// Copy options from another SelectTraits (for copy_select, lvgl)
   void copy_options(const FixedVector<std::string> &other) { this->options_.copy_from(other); }