diff --git a/esphome/__main__.py b/esphome/__main__.py
index 99370064ef..9bd19e517a 100644
--- a/esphome/__main__.py
+++ b/esphome/__main__.py
@@ -1424,10 +1424,11 @@ def command_config(args: ArgsProtocol, config: ConfigType) -> int | None:
 # 2026.12.0 once canonical sensitive fields are tagged. The lookahead skips
 # values that already render themselves: ``\033[8m`` (SensitiveStr wrap),
 # ``!secret`` (preserves the user-friendly tag), ``!lambda`` (multi-line
-# block; first line is structural). Un-anchored on purpose to match the
-# prior regex; leading ``\w*`` captures the full field name for warnings.
+# block; first line is structural). The fragment must either start the
+# field name or follow ``_`` so the warning names a real field; this avoids
+# false positives like ``monkey:`` matching the ``key`` fragment.
 _LEGACY_REDACTION_RE = re.compile(
-    r"(?P<key>\w*(?:password|key|psk|ssid))\: "
+    r"(?P<key>\b(?:\w+_)?(?:password|key|psk|ssid))\: "
     r"(?!\\033\[8m|!secret\b|!lambda\b)(?P<val>.+)"
 )
 _LEGACY_REDACTION_REMOVAL = "2026.12.0"
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/test_main.py b/tests/unit_tests/test_main.py
index 1c58e9b294..26b550669f 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/test_main.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/test_main.py
@@ -424,6 +424,18 @@ def test_redact_with_legacy_fallback__does_not_match_fragment_in_middle(
     assert not any("legacy substring" in rec.message for rec in caplog.records)
 
 
+def test_redact_with_legacy_fallback__does_not_match_fragment_as_suffix(
+    caplog: pytest.LogCaptureFixture,
+) -> None:
+    """Fragment must start the name or follow ``_``; ``monkey:`` shouldn't
+    fire a 'legacy heuristic' warning because there's no sensitive field
+    here — the user has nothing to migrate."""
+    with caplog.at_level(logging.WARNING, logger="esphome.__main__"):
+        out = _redact_with_legacy_fallback("monkey: 1234\n")
+    assert "\\033[8m" not in out
+    assert not any("legacy substring" in rec.message for rec in caplog.records)
+
+
 def test_command_config__invokes_legacy_fallback_when_redacting(
     tmp_path: Path, capfd: CaptureFixture[str]
 ) -> None: