diff --git a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
index 99a0bc9044..52eeec02ed 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ static constexpr uint8_t MAX_PING_RETRIES = 60;
 static constexpr uint16_t PING_RETRY_INTERVAL = 1000;
 static constexpr uint32_t KEEPALIVE_DISCONNECT_TIMEOUT = (KEEPALIVE_TIMEOUT_MS * 5) / 2;
 
+static constexpr auto ESPHOME_VERSION_REF = StringRef::from_lit(ESPHOME_VERSION);
+
 static const char *const TAG = "api.connection";
 #ifdef USE_CAMERA
 static const int CAMERA_STOP_STREAM = 5000;
@@ -1376,9 +1378,8 @@ bool APIConnection::send_hello_response(const HelloRequest &msg) {
   HelloResponse resp;
   resp.api_version_major = 1;
   resp.api_version_minor = 12;
-  // Temporary string for concatenation - will be valid during send_message call
-  std::string server_info = App.get_name() + " (esphome v" ESPHOME_VERSION ")";
-  resp.set_server_info(StringRef(server_info));
+  // Send only the version string - the client only logs this for debugging and doesn't use it otherwise
+  resp.set_server_info(ESPHOME_VERSION_REF);
   resp.set_name(StringRef(App.get_name()));
 
 #ifdef USE_API_PASSWORD
@@ -1425,8 +1426,6 @@ bool APIConnection::send_device_info_response(const DeviceInfoRequest &msg) {
   std::string mac_address = get_mac_address_pretty();
   resp.set_mac_address(StringRef(mac_address));
 
-  // Compile-time StringRef constants
-  static constexpr auto ESPHOME_VERSION_REF = StringRef::from_lit(ESPHOME_VERSION);
   resp.set_esphome_version(ESPHOME_VERSION_REF);
 
   resp.set_compilation_time(App.get_compilation_time_ref());
diff --git a/script/api_protobuf/api_protobuf.py b/script/api_protobuf/api_protobuf.py
index 205bac4937..81653c3302 100755
--- a/script/api_protobuf/api_protobuf.py
+++ b/script/api_protobuf/api_protobuf.py
@@ -848,10 +848,17 @@ class FixedArrayBytesType(TypeInfo):
 
     @property
     def public_content(self) -> list[str]:
+        len_type = (
+            "uint8_t"
+            if self.array_size <= 255
+            else "uint16_t"
+            if self.array_size <= 65535
+            else "size_t"
+        )
         # Add both the array and length fields
         return [
             f"uint8_t {self.field_name}[{self.array_size}]{{}};",
-            f"uint8_t {self.field_name}_len{{0}};",
+            f"{len_type} {self.field_name}_len{{0}};",
         ]
 
     @property