diff --git a/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_client.cpp b/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_client.cpp
index 7675280f1a..7ab6efd1a1 100644
--- a/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_client.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_client.cpp
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ bool MQTTClientComponent::publish(const std::string &topic, const std::string &p
 
 bool MQTTClientComponent::publish(const std::string &topic, const char *payload, size_t payload_length, uint8_t qos,
                                   bool retain) {
-  return publish({.topic = topic, .payload = payload, .qos = qos, .retain = retain});
+  return publish({.topic = topic, .payload = std::string(payload, payload_length), .qos = qos, .retain = retain});
 }
 
 bool MQTTClientComponent::publish(const MQTTMessage &message) {