diff --git a/esphome/components/remote_base/rc_switch_protocol.h b/esphome/components/remote_base/rc_switch_protocol.h
index 46d624f4ba..cf39f0eae7 100644
--- a/esphome/components/remote_base/rc_switch_protocol.h
+++ b/esphome/components/remote_base/rc_switch_protocol.h
@@ -65,11 +65,11 @@ class RCSwitchBase {
   uint32_t zero_low_{};
   uint32_t one_high_{};
   uint32_t one_low_{};
-  bool inverted_{};
+  uint32_t inverted_{};  // bool widened so every field is a word: the table is read from flash
 };
 
-// Constant-initialized: no global constructor, and in flash on platforms that map .rodata there
-inline constexpr RCSwitchBase RC_SWITCH_PROTOCOLS[] = {
+// Constant-initialized and kept in flash on every platform; all fields are 32-bit so ESP8266 can read it in place
+inline constexpr RCSwitchBase RC_SWITCH_PROTOCOLS[] PROGMEM = {
     {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, false},
     {350, 10850, 350, 1050, 1050, 350, false},
     {650, 6500, 650, 1300, 1300, 650, false},