diff --git a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
index 7c135946f8..f76080253d 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
@@ -486,7 +486,7 @@ uint16_t APIConnection::try_send_light_info(EntityBase *entity, APIConnection *c
   if (light->supports_effects()) {
     msg.effects.emplace_back("None");
     for (auto *effect : light->get_effects()) {
-      msg.effects.push_back(effect->get_name());
+      msg.effects.emplace_back(effect->get_name());
     }
   }
   return fill_and_encode_entity_info(light, msg, ListEntitiesLightResponse::MESSAGE_TYPE, conn, remaining_size,