diff --git a/esphome/components/api/api.proto b/esphome/components/api/api.proto
index 60f481c8d8..0e28e19db2 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/api.proto
+++ b/esphome/components/api/api.proto
@@ -1604,11 +1604,11 @@ message BluetoothLEAdvertisementResponse {
 }
 
 message BluetoothLERawAdvertisement {
-  uint64 address = 1;
-  sint32 rssi = 2;
+  uint64 address = 1 [(force) = true];
+  sint32 rssi = 2 [(force) = true];
   uint32 address_type = 3;
 
-  bytes data = 4 [(fixed_array_size) = 62];
+  bytes data = 4 [(fixed_array_size) = 62, (force) = true];
 }
 
 message BluetoothLERawAdvertisementsResponse {
diff --git a/esphome/components/api/api_options.proto b/esphome/components/api/api_options.proto
index a863f2c7a8..02600f0977 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/api_options.proto
+++ b/esphome/components/api/api_options.proto
@@ -90,4 +90,10 @@ extend google.protobuf.FieldOptions {
     //   - uint16_t <field>_length_{0};
     //   - uint16_t <field>_count_{0};
     optional bool packed_buffer = 50015 [default=false];
+
+    // force: Always encode this field, even when its value equals the proto3 default.
+    // Skips the zero/empty check in calculate_size() and encode(), using the _force
+    // variant of the calc_ method. Use on fields that are almost always non-default
+    // to eliminate dead branches on hot paths.
+    optional bool force = 50016 [default=false];
 }
diff --git a/esphome/components/api/api_pb2.cpp b/esphome/components/api/api_pb2.cpp
index 9207586d39..c438043da4 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/api_pb2.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/api/api_pb2.cpp
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ void DeviceInfoResponse::encode(ProtoWriteBuffer &buffer) const {
 #endif
 #ifdef USE_SERIAL_PROXY
   for (const auto &it : this->serial_proxies) {
-    buffer.encode_message(25, it);
+    buffer.encode_sub_message(25, it);
   }
 #endif
 }
@@ -2245,17 +2245,17 @@ bool SubscribeBluetoothLEAdvertisementsRequest::decode_varint(uint32_t field_id,
   return true;
 }
 void BluetoothLERawAdvertisement::encode(ProtoWriteBuffer &buffer) const {
-  buffer.encode_uint64(1, this->address);
-  buffer.encode_sint32(2, this->rssi);
+  buffer.encode_uint64(1, this->address, true);
+  buffer.encode_sint32(2, this->rssi, true);
   buffer.encode_uint32(3, this->address_type);
-  buffer.encode_bytes(4, this->data, this->data_len);
+  buffer.encode_bytes(4, this->data, this->data_len, true);
 }
 uint32_t BluetoothLERawAdvertisement::calculate_size() const {
   uint32_t size = 0;
-  size += ProtoSize::calc_uint64(1, this->address);
-  size += ProtoSize::calc_sint32(1, this->rssi);
+  size += ProtoSize::calc_uint64_force(1, this->address);
+  size += ProtoSize::calc_sint32_force(1, this->rssi);
   size += ProtoSize::calc_uint32(1, this->address_type);
-  size += ProtoSize::calc_length(1, this->data_len);
+  size += ProtoSize::calc_length_force(1, this->data_len);
   return size;
 }
 void BluetoothLERawAdvertisementsResponse::encode(ProtoWriteBuffer &buffer) const {
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 8e875eba62..a1300a67f7 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ platformio==6.1.19
 esptool==5.2.0
 click==8.3.1
 esphome-dashboard==20260210.0
-aioesphomeapi==44.3.1
+aioesphomeapi==44.4.0
 zeroconf==0.148.0
 puremagic==1.30
 ruamel.yaml==0.19.1 # dashboard_import
diff --git a/script/api_protobuf/api_protobuf.py b/script/api_protobuf/api_protobuf.py
index 7ae7063a41..5ce649d781 100755
--- a/script/api_protobuf/api_protobuf.py
+++ b/script/api_protobuf/api_protobuf.py
@@ -151,6 +151,11 @@ class TypeInfo(ABC):
         """Check if the field is repeated."""
         return self._field.label == FieldDescriptorProto.LABEL_REPEATED
 
+    @property
+    def force(self) -> bool:
+        """Check if this field should always be encoded (skip zero/empty check)."""
+        return get_field_opt(self._field, pb.force, False)
+
     @property
     def wire_type(self) -> WireType:
         """Get the wire type for the field."""
@@ -218,6 +223,8 @@ class TypeInfo(ABC):
 
     @property
     def encode_content(self) -> str:
+        if self.force:
+            return f"buffer.{self.encode_func}({self.number}, this->{self.field_name}, true);"
         return f"buffer.{self.encode_func}({self.number}, this->{self.field_name});"
 
     encode_func = None
@@ -1086,6 +1093,8 @@ class FixedArrayBytesType(TypeInfo):
 
     @property
     def encode_content(self) -> str:
+        if self.force:
+            return f"buffer.encode_bytes({self.number}, this->{self.field_name}, this->{self.field_name}_len, true);"
         return f"buffer.encode_bytes({self.number}, this->{self.field_name}, this->{self.field_name}_len);"
 
     def dump(self, name: str) -> str:
@@ -2134,7 +2143,8 @@ def build_message_type(
             encode.extend(wrap_with_ifdef(ti.encode_content, field_ifdef))
             size_calc.extend(
                 wrap_with_ifdef(
-                    ti.get_size_calculation(f"this->{ti.field_name}"), field_ifdef
+                    ti.get_size_calculation(f"this->{ti.field_name}", ti.force),
+                    field_ifdef,
                 )
             )