diff --git a/esphome/core/__init__.py b/esphome/core/__init__.py
index 818a9999ef..a8e027af4f 100644
--- a/esphome/core/__init__.py
+++ b/esphome/core/__init__.py
@@ -544,7 +544,14 @@ def _emits_bare_local(exp: "Statement") -> bool:
     declare a function-local whose lifetime extends past the current
     statement. Components that emit any such statement must not be
     sub-split — later references within the same ``to_code`` would land
-    in a different IIFE and fail to compile."""
+    in a different IIFE and fail to compile.
+
+    The detection is intentionally safety-biased: false negatives cause
+    silent broken C++, false positives just keep a component in one
+    slightly larger IIFE. Any ``cg.add(RawExpression(...))`` disables
+    sub-splitting for its group regardless of whether the raw text
+    actually references a local, because the chunker can't introspect
+    arbitrary raw text."""
     from esphome.cpp_generator import (
         AssignmentExpression,
         ExpressionStatement,
@@ -561,7 +568,11 @@ def _emits_bare_local(exp: "Statement") -> bool:
     # `time::ParsedTimezone tz{}` or `tz.field = ...`. CORE.add wraps
     # a passed Expression in an ExpressionStatement; when the inner is
     # a RawExpression the author is emitting uninterpreted text that
-    # may reference a local declared elsewhere in the same block.
+    # may reference a local declared elsewhere in the same block. A
+    # RawExpression passed as a CallExpression argument does NOT land
+    # here (its ExpressionStatement's .expression is the CallExpression),
+    # so value-pass patterns like `var.set_program(RawExpression("&foo"))`
+    # continue to sub-split normally.
     if isinstance(exp, ExpressionStatement) and isinstance(
         exp.expression, RawExpression
     ):
@@ -1113,6 +1124,12 @@ class EsphomeCore:
         #   sub-split so the declaration and any later references stay
         #   together.
         prefix: list[str] = []
+        # Flags are stored as 1-element lists so they can be mutated by
+        # reference after the tuple has been pushed into ``components``
+        # (assignment to a local ``unsafe_flag`` inside the loop would
+        # rebind the local without updating the stored tuple entry).
+        # A small dataclass would read cleaner but the pattern is
+        # localized to this one property.
         components: list[tuple[list[str], list[bool], list[bool]]] = []
         current: list[str] = prefix
         unsafe_flag: list[bool] = [False]  # unused for prefix
diff --git a/esphome/cpp_generator.py b/esphome/cpp_generator.py
index c3bb0b9169..2f8bdc0859 100644
--- a/esphome/cpp_generator.py
+++ b/esphome/cpp_generator.py
@@ -460,8 +460,12 @@ class ComponentMarker(Statement):
 
     Grouping is best-effort: ``flush_tasks`` can interleave coroutines
     on ``await``, so a component's later statements may land in another
-    component's chunk. Safe because every statement either placement-
-    news into static storage or mutates a file-scope global."""
+    component's chunk. This is safe for the dominant codegen patterns
+    (placement-new into static storage, assignment to a file-scope
+    global); patterns that depend on function-local state within the
+    IIFE scope (cg.variable, with_local_variable, raw bare locals)
+    are kept together by the bare-local detection in cpp_main_section
+    so they aren't split across sibling lambdas."""
 
     __slots__ = ("name",)
 
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/test_core.py b/tests/unit_tests/test_core.py
index 8ca67b4194..a4e1d0b8bd 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/test_core.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/test_core.py
@@ -1107,6 +1107,24 @@ def test_cpp_main_section_typed_assignment_disables_sub_split() -> None:
     assert out.count("[]() {") == 1
 
 
+def test_cpp_main_section_iife_unsafe_wins_over_no_split() -> None:
+    # A group that triggers BOTH flags (IIFEUnsafeStatement present AND
+    # a bare-local emission) must still be emitted flat — the unsafe
+    # flag wins because a `return` inside any IIFE, even a single big
+    # one, only exits the lambda.
+    target = core.EsphomeCore()
+    target.main_statements = [
+        ComponentMarker("safe_mode_with_local"),
+        RawStatement("{"),  # would trigger no_split
+        RawStatement("new_foo();"),
+        RawStatement("}"),
+        IIFEUnsafeStatement(RawExpression("if (cond) return")),
+    ]
+    out = target.cpp_main_section
+    assert "[]() {" not in out
+    assert "if (cond) return;" in out
+
+
 def test_cpp_main_section_iife_unsafe_statement_emits_component_flat() -> None:
     # A component that emits IIFEUnsafeStatement (e.g. safe_mode with
     # `if (...) return;`) must be emitted flat — a `return` inside an