diff --git a/esphome/components/web_server_idf/web_server_idf.cpp b/esphome/components/web_server_idf/web_server_idf.cpp
index 7077fb497d..8c3cd83369 100644
--- a/esphome/components/web_server_idf/web_server_idf.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/web_server_idf/web_server_idf.cpp
@@ -507,7 +507,7 @@ AsyncEventSourceResponse::AsyncEventSourceResponse(const AsyncWebServerRequest *
 
   // Configure reconnect timeout and send config
   // this should always go through since the tcp send buffer is empty on connect
-  std::string message = ws->get_config_json();
+  auto message = ws->get_config_json();
   this->try_send_nodefer(message.c_str(), "ping", millis(), 30000);
 
 #ifdef USE_WEBSERVER_SORTING