diff --git a/esphome/components/api/proto.cpp b/esphome/components/api/proto.cpp
index cb6c07ec3c..40ce293a61 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/proto.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/api/proto.cpp
@@ -8,74 +8,70 @@ namespace esphome::api {
 static const char *const TAG = "api.proto";
 
 void ProtoDecodableMessage::decode(const uint8_t *buffer, size_t length) {
-  uint32_t i = 0;
-  bool error = false;
-  while (i < length) {
+  const uint8_t *ptr = buffer;
+  const uint8_t *end = buffer + length;
+
+  while (ptr < end) {
     uint32_t consumed;
-    auto res = ProtoVarInt::parse(&buffer[i], length - i, &consumed);
+
+    // Parse field header
+    auto res = ProtoVarInt::parse(ptr, end - ptr, &consumed);
     if (!res.has_value()) {
-      ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Invalid field start at %" PRIu32, i);
-      break;
+      ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Invalid field start at offset %td", ptr - buffer);
+      return;
     }
 
-    uint32_t field_type = (res->as_uint32()) & 0b111;
-    uint32_t field_id = (res->as_uint32()) >> 3;
-    i += consumed;
+    uint32_t tag = res->as_uint32();
+    uint32_t field_type = tag & 0b111;
+    uint32_t field_id = tag >> 3;
+    ptr += consumed;
 
     switch (field_type) {
       case 0: {  // VarInt
-        res = ProtoVarInt::parse(&buffer[i], length - i, &consumed);
+        res = ProtoVarInt::parse(ptr, end - ptr, &consumed);
         if (!res.has_value()) {
-          ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Invalid VarInt at %" PRIu32, i);
-          error = true;
-          break;
+          ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Invalid VarInt at offset %td", ptr - buffer);
+          return;
         }
         if (!this->decode_varint(field_id, *res)) {
           ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Cannot decode VarInt field %" PRIu32 " with value %" PRIu32 "!", field_id, res->as_uint32());
         }
-        i += consumed;
+        ptr += consumed;
         break;
       }
       case 2: {  // Length-delimited
-        res = ProtoVarInt::parse(&buffer[i], length - i, &consumed);
+        res = ProtoVarInt::parse(ptr, end - ptr, &consumed);
         if (!res.has_value()) {
-          ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Invalid Length Delimited at %" PRIu32, i);
-          error = true;
-          break;
+          ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Invalid Length Delimited at offset %td", ptr - buffer);
+          return;
         }
         uint32_t field_length = res->as_uint32();
-        i += consumed;
-        if (field_length > length - i) {
-          ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Out-of-bounds Length Delimited at %" PRIu32, i);
-          error = true;
-          break;
+        ptr += consumed;
+        if (ptr + field_length > end) {
+          ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Out-of-bounds Length Delimited at offset %td", ptr - buffer);
+          return;
         }
-        if (!this->decode_length(field_id, ProtoLengthDelimited(&buffer[i], field_length))) {
+        if (!this->decode_length(field_id, ProtoLengthDelimited(ptr, field_length))) {
           ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Cannot decode Length Delimited field %" PRIu32 "!", field_id);
         }
-        i += field_length;
+        ptr += field_length;
         break;
       }
       case 5: {  // 32-bit
-        if (length - i < 4) {
-          ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Out-of-bounds Fixed32-bit at %" PRIu32, i);
-          error = true;
-          break;
+        if (ptr + 4 > end) {
+          ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Out-of-bounds Fixed32-bit at offset %td", ptr - buffer);
+          return;
         }
-        uint32_t val = encode_uint32(buffer[i + 3], buffer[i + 2], buffer[i + 1], buffer[i]);
+        uint32_t val = encode_uint32(ptr[3], ptr[2], ptr[1], ptr[0]);
         if (!this->decode_32bit(field_id, Proto32Bit(val))) {
           ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Cannot decode 32-bit field %" PRIu32 " with value %" PRIu32 "!", field_id, val);
         }
-        i += 4;
+        ptr += 4;
         break;
       }
       default:
-        ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Invalid field type at %" PRIu32, i);
-        error = true;
-        break;
-    }
-    if (error) {
-      break;
+        ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Invalid field type %u at offset %td", field_type, ptr - buffer);
+        return;
     }
   }
 }