diff --git a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.h b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.h
index 13d5273ecbb..5a86240ab56 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.h
+++ b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.h
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@
 #ifdef USE_RP2040_CRASH_HANDLER
 #include "esphome/components/rp2040/crash_handler.h"
 #endif
+#ifdef USE_ESP8266_CRASH_HANDLER
+#include "esphome/components/esp8266/crash_handler.h"
+#endif
 #include "esphome/core/entity_base.h"
 #include "esphome/core/string_ref.h"
 
@@ -276,6 +279,9 @@ class APIConnection final : public APIServerConnectionBase {
 #endif
 #ifdef USE_RP2040_CRASH_HANDLER
     rp2040::crash_handler_log();
+#endif
+#ifdef USE_ESP8266_CRASH_HANDLER
+    esp8266::crash_handler_log();
 #endif
   }
 #ifdef USE_API_HOMEASSISTANT_SERVICES
diff --git a/esphome/components/esp8266/__init__.py b/esphome/components/esp8266/__init__.py
index 2081145096e..fcd3499b151 100644
--- a/esphome/components/esp8266/__init__.py
+++ b/esphome/components/esp8266/__init__.py
@@ -233,6 +233,7 @@ async def to_code(config):
     cg.add_define("ESPHOME_BOARD", config[CONF_BOARD])
     cg.add_define("ESPHOME_VARIANT", "ESP8266")
     cg.add_define(ThreadModel.SINGLE)
+    cg.add_define("USE_ESP8266_CRASH_HANDLER")
 
     enable_scanf_float = config.get(CONF_ENABLE_SCANF_FLOAT)
     if enable_scanf_float is None and lambdas_use_scanf_float(CORE.config):
diff --git a/esphome/components/esp8266/core.cpp b/esphome/components/esp8266/core.cpp
index 159ec20e77b..5db5b064d48 100644
--- a/esphome/components/esp8266/core.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/esp8266/core.cpp
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 
 #include "core.h"
 #include "esphome/core/defines.h"
+#ifdef USE_ESP8266_CRASH_HANDLER
+#include "crash_handler.h"
+#endif
 #include "esphome/core/hal.h"
 #include "esphome/core/time_64.h"
 #include "esphome/core/helpers.h"
@@ -28,7 +31,11 @@ void arch_restart() {
     yield();
   }
 }
-void arch_init() {}
+void arch_init() {
+#ifdef USE_ESP8266_CRASH_HANDLER
+  esp8266::crash_handler_read_and_clear();
+#endif
+}
 void HOT arch_feed_wdt() { system_soft_wdt_feed(); }
 
 uint8_t progmem_read_byte(const uint8_t *addr) {
diff --git a/esphome/components/esp8266/crash_handler.cpp b/esphome/components/esp8266/crash_handler.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4b04d851d62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/esphome/components/esp8266/crash_handler.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,238 @@
+#ifdef USE_ESP8266
+
+#include "esphome/core/defines.h"
+#ifdef USE_ESP8266_CRASH_HANDLER
+
+#include "crash_handler.h"
+#include "esphome/core/helpers.h"
+#include "esphome/core/log.h"
+
+#include <cinttypes>
+
+extern "C" {
+#include <user_interface.h>
+
+// Global reset info struct populated by SDK/Arduino core at boot
+extern struct rst_info resetInfo;
+}
+
+// Check if a value looks like a code address in IRAM or flash-mapped IROM.
+// On Xtensa with windowed register ABI, return addresses stored on the stack
+// have bits[31:30] encoding the call type (CALL0=00, CALL4=01, CALL8=10,
+// CALL12=11). Code lives at 0x40xxxxxx (bits[31:30]=01), so CALL4 return
+// addresses look normal, but CALL8 (0x80...) and CALL12 (0xC0...) need
+// masking. We recover the real address with (val & 0x3FFFFFFF) | 0x40000000.
+//
+// Must be IRAM_ATTR since it's called from custom_crash_callback (exception context).
+static inline bool IRAM_ATTR is_code_addr(uint32_t val) {
+  uint32_t addr = (val & 0x3FFFFFFF) | 0x40000000;
+  // IRAM:  0x40100000 - 0x40108000 (32KB)
+  // IROM:  0x40200000 - 0x40400000 (2MB, conservative upper bound)
+  return (addr >= 0x40100000 && addr < 0x40108000) || (addr >= 0x40200000 && addr < 0x40400000);
+}
+
+// Recover the actual code address from a windowed-ABI return address on the stack.
+static inline uint32_t IRAM_ATTR recover_code_addr(uint32_t val) { return (val & 0x3FFFFFFF) | 0x40000000; }
+
+// RTC user memory layout for crash backtrace data.
+// User-accessible RTC memory: blocks 64-191 (each block = 4 bytes).
+// We use blocks 184-191 (last 8 blocks) to minimize conflicts with other users.
+static constexpr uint8_t RTC_CRASH_BASE = 184;
+static constexpr uint32_t CRASH_MAGIC_SENTINEL = 0xDEAD0000;
+static constexpr uint32_t CRASH_DATA_VERSION = 1;
+static constexpr uint32_t CRASH_MAGIC_V1 = CRASH_MAGIC_SENTINEL | CRASH_DATA_VERSION;
+static constexpr size_t MAX_BACKTRACE = 6;
+
+// Struct layout matches 8 RTC blocks (32 bytes):
+// [0] = magic (0xDEAD0001)
+// [1..6] = up to 6 code addresses from stack scanning
+// [7] = backtrace count (lower 8 bits)
+struct RtcCrashData {
+  uint32_t magic;
+  uint32_t backtrace[MAX_BACKTRACE];
+  uint32_t backtrace_count;  // Only lower 8 bits used; uint32_t for RTC alignment
+};
+static_assert(sizeof(RtcCrashData) == 32, "RtcCrashData must fit in 8 RTC blocks");
+
+namespace esphome::esp8266 {
+
+static const char *const TAG = "esp8266.crash";
+
+// Whether the previous boot was a crash. Set once in crash_handler_read_and_clear().
+// resetInfo and RTC backtrace data persist until the next reset, so no caching needed.
+static bool s_crash_valid = false;  // NOLINT(cppcoreguidelines-avoid-non-const-global-variables)
+
+bool crash_handler_has_data() { return s_crash_valid; }
+
+void crash_handler_read_and_clear() {
+  uint32_t reason = resetInfo.reason;
+  s_crash_valid = (reason == REASON_WDT_RST || reason == REASON_EXCEPTION_RST || reason == REASON_SOFT_WDT_RST);
+}
+
+// Xtensa exception cause names (shared with ESP32, same ISA).
+// Keep in sync with Xtensa ISA reference manual Table 4-64.
+static const LogString *get_exception_cause(uint32_t cause) {
+  switch (cause) {
+    case 0:
+      return LOG_STR("IllegalInstruction");
+    case 1:
+      return LOG_STR("Syscall");
+    case 2:
+      return LOG_STR("InstructionFetchError");
+    case 3:
+      return LOG_STR("LoadStoreError");
+    case 4:
+      return LOG_STR("Level1Interrupt");
+    case 5:
+      return LOG_STR("Alloca");
+    case 6:
+      return LOG_STR("IntegerDivideByZero");
+    case 7:
+      return LOG_STR("PCValue");
+    case 8:
+      return LOG_STR("Privileged");
+    case 9:
+      return LOG_STR("LoadStoreAlignment");
+    case 12:
+      return LOG_STR("InstrPDAddrError");
+    case 13:
+      return LOG_STR("LoadStorePIFDataError");
+    case 14:
+      return LOG_STR("InstrPIFAddrError");
+    case 15:
+      return LOG_STR("LoadStorePIFAddrError");
+    case 16:
+      return LOG_STR("InstTLBMiss");
+    case 17:
+      return LOG_STR("InstTLBMultiHit");
+    case 18:
+      return LOG_STR("InstFetchPrivilege");
+    case 20:
+      return LOG_STR("InstrFetchProhibited");
+    case 24:
+      return LOG_STR("LoadStoreTLBMiss");
+    case 25:
+      return LOG_STR("LoadStoreTLBMultihit");
+    case 26:
+      return LOG_STR("LoadStorePrivilege");
+    case 28:
+      return LOG_STR("LoadProhibited");
+    case 29:
+      return LOG_STR("StoreProhibited");
+    default:
+      return nullptr;
+  }
+}
+
+static const LogString *get_reset_reason(uint32_t reason) {
+  switch (reason) {
+    case REASON_WDT_RST:
+      return LOG_STR("Hardware Watchdog");
+    case REASON_EXCEPTION_RST:
+      return LOG_STR("Exception");
+    case REASON_SOFT_WDT_RST:
+      return LOG_STR("Software Watchdog");
+    default:
+      return LOG_STR("Unknown");
+  }
+}
+
+// Read backtrace from RTC user memory into caller-provided buffer.
+// Returns the number of valid backtrace entries (0 if no data found).
+static uint8_t read_rtc_backtrace(uint32_t *backtrace, size_t max_entries) {
+  RtcCrashData rtc_data;
+  if (!system_rtc_mem_read(RTC_CRASH_BASE, &rtc_data, sizeof(rtc_data)))
+    return 0;
+  uint32_t magic = rtc_data.magic;
+  if ((magic & 0xFFFF0000) != CRASH_MAGIC_SENTINEL || (magic & 0xFFFF) != CRASH_DATA_VERSION)
+    return 0;
+  uint8_t count = rtc_data.backtrace_count;
+  if (count > max_entries)
+    count = max_entries;
+  for (uint8_t i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+    backtrace[i] = rtc_data.backtrace[i];
+  }
+  return count;
+}
+
+// Intentionally uses separate ESP_LOGE calls per line instead of combining into
+// one multi-line log message. This ensures each address appears as its own line
+// on the serial console, making it possible to see partial output if the device
+// crashes again during boot, and allowing the CLI's process_stacktrace to match
+// and decode each address individually.
+void crash_handler_log() {
+  if (!s_crash_valid)
+    return;
+
+  // Read backtrace from RTC into stack-local buffer (no persistent RAM cost).
+  // Both resetInfo and RTC data survive until the next reset, so this can be
+  // called multiple times (logger init + API subscribe) with the same result.
+  uint32_t backtrace[MAX_BACKTRACE];
+  uint8_t bt_count = read_rtc_backtrace(backtrace, MAX_BACKTRACE);
+
+  ESP_LOGE(TAG, "*** CRASH DETECTED ON PREVIOUS BOOT ***");
+  const LogString *cause = get_exception_cause(resetInfo.exccause);
+  if (resetInfo.reason == REASON_EXCEPTION_RST && cause != nullptr) {
+    ESP_LOGE(TAG, "  Reason: %s - %s (exccause=%" PRIu32 ")", LOG_STR_ARG(get_reset_reason(resetInfo.reason)),
+             LOG_STR_ARG(cause), resetInfo.exccause);
+  } else {
+    ESP_LOGE(TAG, "  Reason: %s", LOG_STR_ARG(get_reset_reason(resetInfo.reason)));
+  }
+  ESP_LOGE(TAG, "  PC:  0x%08" PRIX32 "  (fault location)", resetInfo.epc1);
+  if (resetInfo.epc2 != 0) {
+    ESP_LOGE(TAG, "  EPC2: 0x%08" PRIX32, resetInfo.epc2);
+  }
+  if (resetInfo.epc3 != 0) {
+    ESP_LOGE(TAG, "  EPC3: 0x%08" PRIX32, resetInfo.epc3);
+  }
+  if (resetInfo.excvaddr != 0) {
+    ESP_LOGE(TAG, "  EXCVADDR: 0x%08" PRIX32 "  (faulting address)", resetInfo.excvaddr);
+  }
+  if (resetInfo.depc != 0) {
+    ESP_LOGE(TAG, "  DEPC: 0x%08" PRIX32 "  (double exception)", resetInfo.depc);
+  }
+  for (uint8_t i = 0; i < bt_count; i++) {
+    ESP_LOGE(TAG, "  BT%d: 0x%08" PRIX32 "  (stack scan)", i, backtrace[i]);
+  }
+  // Build addr2line hint with all captured addresses for easy copy-paste
+  char hint[200];
+  size_t pos =
+      buf_append_printf(hint, sizeof(hint), 0, "Use: addr2line -pfiaC -e firmware.elf 0x%08" PRIX32, resetInfo.epc1);
+  for (uint8_t i = 0; i < bt_count; i++) {
+    pos = buf_append_printf(hint, sizeof(hint), pos, " 0x%08" PRIX32, backtrace[i]);
+  }
+  ESP_LOGE(TAG, "%s", hint);
+}
+
+}  // namespace esphome::esp8266
+
+// --- Custom crash callback ---
+// Overrides the weak custom_crash_callback() from Arduino core's
+// core_esp8266_postmortem.cpp. Called during exception handling before
+// the device restarts. We scan the stack for return addresses and store
+// them in RTC user memory (which survives software reset).
+extern "C" void IRAM_ATTR custom_crash_callback(struct rst_info * /*rst_info*/, uint32_t stack, uint32_t stack_end) {
+  RtcCrashData data = {};
+  uint8_t count = 0;
+
+  auto *scan = reinterpret_cast<uint32_t *>(stack);
+  auto *end = reinterpret_cast<uint32_t *>(stack_end);
+  // Limit scan to 64 words (256 bytes) to avoid excessive scanning
+  if (end > scan + 64)
+    end = scan + 64;
+
+  for (; scan < end && count < MAX_BACKTRACE; scan++) {
+    uint32_t val = *scan;
+    if (is_code_addr(val)) {
+      data.backtrace[count++] = recover_code_addr(val);
+    }
+  }
+
+  data.backtrace_count = count;
+  data.magic = CRASH_MAGIC_V1;
+
+  system_rtc_mem_write(RTC_CRASH_BASE, &data, sizeof(data));
+}
+
+#endif  // USE_ESP8266_CRASH_HANDLER
+#endif  // USE_ESP8266
diff --git a/esphome/components/esp8266/crash_handler.h b/esphome/components/esp8266/crash_handler.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..78ba4711bfa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/esphome/components/esp8266/crash_handler.h
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#ifdef USE_ESP8266
+
+#include "esphome/core/defines.h"
+
+#ifdef USE_ESP8266_CRASH_HANDLER
+
+namespace esphome::esp8266 {
+
+/// Read crash data from rst_info and RTC user memory, then clear RTC data.
+void crash_handler_read_and_clear();
+
+/// Log crash data if a crash was detected on previous boot.
+void crash_handler_log();
+
+/// Returns true if crash data was found this boot.
+bool crash_handler_has_data();
+
+}  // namespace esphome::esp8266
+
+#endif  // USE_ESP8266_CRASH_HANDLER
+#endif  // USE_ESP8266
diff --git a/esphome/components/logger/logger_esp8266.cpp b/esphome/components/logger/logger_esp8266.cpp
index b9507e707a7..5797b03ba72 100644
--- a/esphome/components/logger/logger_esp8266.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/logger/logger_esp8266.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 #ifdef USE_ESP8266
 #include "logger.h"
+#include "esphome/core/defines.h"
+#ifdef USE_ESP8266_CRASH_HANDLER
+#include "esphome/components/esp8266/crash_handler.h"
+#endif
 #include "esphome/core/log.h"
 
 namespace esphome::logger {
@@ -26,6 +30,9 @@ void Logger::pre_setup() {
   global_logger = this;
 
   ESP_LOGI(TAG, "Log initialized");
+#ifdef USE_ESP8266_CRASH_HANDLER
+  esp8266::crash_handler_log();
+#endif
 }
 
 const LogString *Logger::get_uart_selection_() {
diff --git a/esphome/core/defines.h b/esphome/core/defines.h
index faa8c6d4b0e..02168b8fe58 100644
--- a/esphome/core/defines.h
+++ b/esphome/core/defines.h
@@ -330,6 +330,7 @@
 // ESP8266-specific feature flags
 #ifdef USE_ESP8266
 #define USE_ADC_SENSOR_VCC
+#define USE_ESP8266_CRASH_HANDLER
 #define USE_ARDUINO_VERSION_CODE VERSION_CODE(3, 1, 2)
 #define USE_CAPTIVE_PORTAL
 #define USE_ESP8266_LOGGER_SERIAL