diff --git a/esphome/components/http_request/update/http_request_update.cpp b/esphome/components/http_request/update/http_request_update.cpp
index c63e55d159..85609bd31f 100644
--- a/esphome/components/http_request/update/http_request_update.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/http_request/update/http_request_update.cpp
@@ -90,16 +90,14 @@ void HttpRequestUpdate::update_task(void *params) {
     UPDATE_RETURN;
   }
   size_t read_index = container->get_bytes_read();
+  size_t content_length = container->content_length;
+
+  container->end();
+  container.reset();  // Release ownership of the container's shared_ptr
 
   bool valid = false;
-  {  // Ensures the response string falls out of scope and deallocates before the task ends
-    std::string response((char *) data, read_index);
-    allocator.deallocate(data, container->content_length);
-
-    container->end();
-    container.reset();  // Release ownership of the container's shared_ptr
-
-    valid = json::parse_json(response, [this_update](JsonObject root) -> bool {
+  {  // Scope to ensure JsonDocument is destroyed before deallocating buffer
+    valid = json::parse_json(data, read_index, [this_update](JsonObject root) -> bool {
       if (!root[ESPHOME_F("name")].is<const char *>() || !root[ESPHOME_F("version")].is<const char *>() ||
           !root[ESPHOME_F("builds")].is<JsonArray>()) {
         ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Manifest does not contain required fields");
@@ -137,6 +135,7 @@ void HttpRequestUpdate::update_task(void *params) {
       return false;
     });
   }
+  allocator.deallocate(data, content_length);
 
   if (!valid) {
     ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Failed to parse JSON from %s", this_update->source_url_.c_str());
@@ -157,17 +156,12 @@ void HttpRequestUpdate::update_task(void *params) {
     }
   }
 
-  {  // Ensures the current version string falls out of scope and deallocates before the task ends
-    std::string current_version;
 #ifdef ESPHOME_PROJECT_VERSION
-    current_version = ESPHOME_PROJECT_VERSION;
+  this_update->update_info_.current_version = ESPHOME_PROJECT_VERSION;
 #else
-    current_version = ESPHOME_VERSION;
+  this_update->update_info_.current_version = ESPHOME_VERSION;
 #endif
 
-    this_update->update_info_.current_version = current_version;
-  }
-
   bool trigger_update_available = false;
 
   if (this_update->update_info_.latest_version.empty() ||
diff --git a/esphome/components/json/json_util.cpp b/esphome/components/json/json_util.cpp
index 869d29f92e..69f8bfc61a 100644
--- a/esphome/components/json/json_util.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/json/json_util.cpp
@@ -25,8 +25,13 @@ std::string build_json(const json_build_t &f) {
 }
 
 bool parse_json(const std::string &data, const json_parse_t &f) {
+  // NOLINTNEXTLINE(clang-analyzer-cplusplus.NewDeleteLeaks) false positive with ArduinoJson
+  return parse_json(reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t *>(data.c_str()), data.size(), f);
+}
+
+bool parse_json(const uint8_t *data, size_t len, const json_parse_t &f) {
   // NOLINTBEGIN(clang-analyzer-cplusplus.NewDeleteLeaks) false positive with ArduinoJson
-  JsonDocument doc = parse_json(reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t *>(data.c_str()), data.size());
+  JsonDocument doc = parse_json(data, len);
   if (doc.overflowed() || doc.isNull())
     return false;
   return f(doc.as<JsonObject>());
diff --git a/esphome/components/json/json_util.h b/esphome/components/json/json_util.h
index 91cc84dc14..ca074926bd 100644
--- a/esphome/components/json/json_util.h
+++ b/esphome/components/json/json_util.h
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ std::string build_json(const json_build_t &f);
 
 /// Parse a JSON string and run the provided json parse function if it's valid.
 bool parse_json(const std::string &data, const json_parse_t &f);
+/// Parse JSON from raw bytes and run the provided json parse function if it's valid.
+bool parse_json(const uint8_t *data, size_t len, const json_parse_t &f);
 
 /// Parse a JSON string and return the root JsonDocument (or an unbound object on error)
 JsonDocument parse_json(const uint8_t *data, size_t len);