diff --git a/esphome/components/espnow/espnow_component.cpp b/esphome/components/espnow/espnow_component.cpp
index 991803d870..78916891f4 100644
--- a/esphome/components/espnow/espnow_component.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/espnow/espnow_component.cpp
@@ -87,7 +87,8 @@ void on_send_report(const uint8_t *mac_addr, esp_now_send_status_t status)
 
   // Push the packet to the queue
   global_esp_now->receive_packet_queue_.push(packet);
-  // Push always because we're the only producer and the pool ensures we never exceed queue size
+  // Push always succeeds: pool is sized to queue capacity (SIZE-1), so if
+  // allocate() returned non-null, the queue cannot be full.
 
   // Wake main loop immediately to process ESP-NOW send event instead of waiting for select() timeout
 #if defined(USE_SOCKET_SELECT_SUPPORT) && defined(USE_WAKE_LOOP_THREADSAFE)
@@ -109,7 +110,8 @@ void on_data_received(const esp_now_recv_info_t *info, const uint8_t *data, int
 
   // Push the packet to the queue
   global_esp_now->receive_packet_queue_.push(packet);
-  // Push always because we're the only producer and the pool ensures we never exceed queue size
+  // Push always succeeds: pool is sized to queue capacity (SIZE-1), so if
+  // allocate() returned non-null, the queue cannot be full.
 
   // Wake main loop immediately to process ESP-NOW receive event instead of waiting for select() timeout
 #if defined(USE_SOCKET_SELECT_SUPPORT) && defined(USE_WAKE_LOOP_THREADSAFE)
diff --git a/esphome/components/espnow/espnow_component.h b/esphome/components/espnow/espnow_component.h
index 9941e97227..ee4adc1b4d 100644
--- a/esphome/components/espnow/espnow_component.h
+++ b/esphome/components/espnow/espnow_component.h
@@ -163,10 +163,14 @@ class ESPNowComponent : public Component {
 
   uint8_t own_address_[ESP_NOW_ETH_ALEN]{0};
   LockFreeQueue<ESPNowPacket, MAX_ESP_NOW_RECEIVE_QUEUE_SIZE> receive_packet_queue_{};
-  EventPool<ESPNowPacket, MAX_ESP_NOW_RECEIVE_QUEUE_SIZE> receive_packet_pool_{};
+  // Pool sized to queue capacity (SIZE-1) because LockFreeQueue<T,N> is a ring
+  // buffer that holds N-1 elements. This guarantees allocate() returns nullptr
+  // before push() can fail, preventing a pool slot leak.
+  EventPool<ESPNowPacket, MAX_ESP_NOW_RECEIVE_QUEUE_SIZE - 1> receive_packet_pool_{};
 
   LockFreeQueue<ESPNowSendPacket, MAX_ESP_NOW_SEND_QUEUE_SIZE> send_packet_queue_{};
-  EventPool<ESPNowSendPacket, MAX_ESP_NOW_SEND_QUEUE_SIZE> send_packet_pool_{};
+  // Pool sized to queue capacity (SIZE-1) — see receive_packet_pool_ comment.
+  EventPool<ESPNowSendPacket, MAX_ESP_NOW_SEND_QUEUE_SIZE - 1> send_packet_pool_{};
   ESPNowSendPacket *current_send_packet_{nullptr};  // Currently sending packet, nullptr if none
 
   uint8_t wifi_channel_{0};