diff --git a/esphome/components/esp32/hal.cpp b/esphome/components/esp32/hal.cpp
index 3a0836a5073..f6199d557f3 100644
--- a/esphome/components/esp32/hal.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/esp32/hal.cpp
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 #ifdef USE_ESP32
 
-#include "crash_handler.h"
+// defines.h must come before crash_handler.h so USE_ESP32_CRASH_HANDLER is set
+// before crash_handler.h's #ifdef-guarded namespace block is parsed.
 #include "esphome/core/defines.h"
+#include "crash_handler.h"
 #include "esphome/core/hal.h"
 
 #include <esp_clk_tree.h>