diff --git a/esphome/components/ethernet/ethernet_component.cpp b/esphome/components/ethernet/ethernet_component.cpp
index 13adab8815..24b6e8154b 100644
--- a/esphome/components/ethernet/ethernet_component.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/ethernet/ethernet_component.cpp
@@ -689,14 +689,9 @@ void EthernetComponent::add_phy_register(PHYRegister register_value) { this->phy
 void EthernetComponent::set_type(EthernetType type) { this->type_ = type; }
 void EthernetComponent::set_manual_ip(const ManualIP &manual_ip) { this->manual_ip_ = manual_ip; }
 
-std::string EthernetComponent::get_use_address() const {
-  if (this->use_address_.empty()) {
-    // ".local" suffix length for mDNS hostnames
-    constexpr size_t mdns_local_suffix_len = 5;
-    return make_name_with_suffix(App.get_name(), '.', "local", mdns_local_suffix_len);
-  }
-  return this->use_address_;
-}
+// set_use_address() is guaranteed to be called during component setup by Python code generation,
+// so use_address_ will always be valid when get_use_address() is called - no fallback needed.
+const std::string &EthernetComponent::get_use_address() const { return this->use_address_; }
 
 void EthernetComponent::set_use_address(const std::string &use_address) { this->use_address_ = use_address; }
 
diff --git a/esphome/components/ethernet/ethernet_component.h b/esphome/components/ethernet/ethernet_component.h
index 6b4e342df5..d5dda3e3ae 100644
--- a/esphome/components/ethernet/ethernet_component.h
+++ b/esphome/components/ethernet/ethernet_component.h
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ class EthernetComponent : public Component {
 
   network::IPAddresses get_ip_addresses();
   network::IPAddress get_dns_address(uint8_t num);
-  std::string get_use_address() const;
+  const std::string &get_use_address() const;
   void set_use_address(const std::string &use_address);
   void get_eth_mac_address_raw(uint8_t *mac);
   std::string get_eth_mac_address_pretty();
diff --git a/esphome/components/network/util.cpp b/esphome/components/network/util.cpp
index bf76aefc30..12939f8f84 100644
--- a/esphome/components/network/util.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/network/util.cpp
@@ -85,22 +85,25 @@ network::IPAddresses get_ip_addresses() {
   return {};
 }
 
-std::string get_use_address() {
+const std::string &get_use_address() {
+  // Global component pointers are guaranteed to be set by component constructors when USE_* is defined
 #ifdef USE_ETHERNET
-  if (ethernet::global_eth_component != nullptr)
-    return ethernet::global_eth_component->get_use_address();
+  return ethernet::global_eth_component->get_use_address();
 #endif
 
 #ifdef USE_MODEM
-  if (modem::global_modem_component != nullptr)
-    return modem::global_modem_component->get_use_address();
+  return modem::global_modem_component->get_use_address();
 #endif
 
 #ifdef USE_WIFI
-  if (wifi::global_wifi_component != nullptr)
-    return wifi::global_wifi_component->get_use_address();
+  return wifi::global_wifi_component->get_use_address();
+#endif
+
+#if !defined(USE_ETHERNET) && !defined(USE_MODEM) && !defined(USE_WIFI)
+  // Fallback when no network component is defined (shouldn't happen with USE_NETWORK defined)
+  static const std::string empty;
+  return empty;
 #endif
-  return "";
 }
 
 }  // namespace network
diff --git a/esphome/components/network/util.h b/esphome/components/network/util.h
index b518696e68..b4a92f8bee 100644
--- a/esphome/components/network/util.h
+++ b/esphome/components/network/util.h
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ bool is_connected();
 /// Return whether the network is disabled (only wifi for now)
 bool is_disabled();
 /// Get the active network hostname
-std::string get_use_address();
+const std::string &get_use_address();
 IPAddresses get_ip_addresses();
 
 }  // namespace network
diff --git a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.cpp b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.cpp
index 2365e3f560..5aa2a03a14 100644
--- a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.cpp
@@ -265,14 +265,9 @@ network::IPAddress WiFiComponent::get_dns_address(int num) {
     return this->wifi_dns_ip_(num);
   return {};
 }
-std::string WiFiComponent::get_use_address() const {
-  if (this->use_address_.empty()) {
-    // ".local" suffix length for mDNS hostnames
-    constexpr size_t mdns_local_suffix_len = 5;
-    return make_name_with_suffix(App.get_name(), '.', "local", mdns_local_suffix_len);
-  }
-  return this->use_address_;
-}
+// set_use_address() is guaranteed to be called during component setup by Python code generation,
+// so use_address_ will always be valid when get_use_address() is called - no fallback needed.
+const std::string &WiFiComponent::get_use_address() const { return this->use_address_; }
 void WiFiComponent::set_use_address(const std::string &use_address) { this->use_address_ = use_address; }
 
 #ifdef USE_WIFI_AP
diff --git a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.h b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.h
index bae047eb9d..9d32071b2b 100644
--- a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.h
+++ b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.h
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ class WiFiComponent : public Component {
 
   network::IPAddress get_dns_address(int num);
   network::IPAddresses get_ip_addresses();
-  std::string get_use_address() const;
+  const std::string &get_use_address() const;
   void set_use_address(const std::string &use_address);
 
   const wifi_scan_vector_t<WiFiScanResult> &get_scan_result() const { return scan_result_; }