diff --git a/esphome/components/esphome/ota/ota_esphome.cpp b/esphome/components/esphome/ota/ota_esphome.cpp
index d585029859..5ebab7a838 100644
--- a/esphome/components/esphome/ota/ota_esphome.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/esphome/ota/ota_esphome.cpp
@@ -878,8 +878,9 @@ ota::OTAResponseTypes ESPHomeOTAComponent::inflate_data_(uint8_t *in, size_t ima
     session.dest_limit = session.window + OTA_INFLATE_WINDOW_SIZE;
     session.flushed = 0;
     res = ota_inflate(&session);
-    if (res < 0) {
-      // eof means the read callback failed, which is already logged
+    // A stored block keeps decoding zeros after the read callback failed, so
+    // eof is checked as well; that failure is already logged
+    if (res < 0 || session.eof) {
       if (!session.eof) {
         ESP_LOGW(TAG, "Inflate err %d", res);
       }
diff --git a/esphome/components/esphome/ota/ota_esphome.h b/esphome/components/esphome/ota/ota_esphome.h
index 6e0c7d20a7..63bb3c3075 100644
--- a/esphome/components/esphome/ota/ota_esphome.h
+++ b/esphome/components/esphome/ota/ota_esphome.h
@@ -124,12 +124,12 @@ class ESPHomeOTAComponent final : public ota::OTAComponent {
 
   // Upload accounting shared by the data loop and the inflate read callback
   struct DataTransfer {
-    size_t ota_size;  // bytes the client sends
-    size_t total{0};  // bytes received so far
+    size_t ota_size{0};  // bytes the client sends
+    size_t total{0};     // bytes received so far
 #if USE_OTA_VERSION == 2
     size_t acknowledged{0};
 #endif
-    uint32_t last_data_ms;
+    uint32_t last_data_ms{0};
     uint32_t last_progress{0};
   };
   // Receives up to OTA_BUFFER_SIZE bytes of upload data into buf, waiting up to
diff --git a/esphome/components/esphome/ota/ota_esphome_inflate.c b/esphome/components/esphome/ota/ota_esphome_inflate.c
index c3e1213989..58baecfc8c 100644
--- a/esphome/components/esphome/ota/ota_esphome_inflate.c
+++ b/esphome/components/esphome/ota/ota_esphome_inflate.c
@@ -334,6 +334,10 @@ static int tinf_inflate_block_data(TINF_DATA *d, TINF_TREE *lt, TINF_TREE *dt) {
       return TINF_DATA_ERROR;
     }
 
+    if (sym < 0) {
+      return sym;
+    }
+
     /* literal byte */
     if (sym < 256) {
       TINF_PUT(d, sym);
diff --git a/esphome/components/ota/ota_backend_arduino_rp2.h b/esphome/components/ota/ota_backend_arduino_rp2.h
index cae523e2b3..8874800609 100644
--- a/esphome/components/ota/ota_backend_arduino_rp2.h
+++ b/esphome/components/ota/ota_backend_arduino_rp2.h
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ class ArduinoRP2OTABackend final {
   OTAResponseTypes end();
   void abort();
   // A gzip image is staged on LittleFS as is; the core's OTA stub inflates it
-  // into the app region at reboot, the same way the ESP8266 bootloader does.
+  // into the app region at reboot (arduino-pico 2.4.0 and later, RP2350 from
+  // 4.0.3; ESPHome requires 6.0.0), the same way the ESP8266 bootloader does.
   // begin() then sees the gzip size, so only the staging space is checked up
   // front; the inflated size is not known until the stub reads the trailer.
   static constexpr bool supports_compression() { return true; }
diff --git a/esphome/espota2.py b/esphome/espota2.py
index 379c4bd796..36a9b76659 100644
--- a/esphome/espota2.py
+++ b/esphome/espota2.py
@@ -72,8 +72,9 @@ SERVER_FEATURE_SUPPORTS_PARTITION_ACCESS = 0x02
 SERVER_FEATURE_SUPPORTS_NOISE = 0x04
 SERVER_FEATURE_SUPPORTS_DEFLATE = 0x08
 
-# Window of the raw deflate stream sent to a device that inflates on the fly;
-# the device's OTA_INFLATE_WINDOW_SIZE (4 KB) must be at least 1 << this
+# Window of the raw deflate stream sent to a device that inflates on the fly.
+# Part of the protocol: the server's deflate bit promises a 4 KB ring window
+# (OTA_INFLATE_WINDOW_SIZE), so a larger window needs a new feature bit
 DEFLATE_WINDOW_BITS = 12
 
 NOISE_FRAME_INDICATOR = 0x01
diff --git a/tests/components/ota/test.bk72xx-ard.yaml b/tests/components/ota/test.bk72xx-ard.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dade44d145
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/components/ota/test.bk72xx-ard.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<<: !include common.yaml
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_host_ota.py b/tests/integration/test_host_ota.py
index da5363ef2e..d25f9e872d 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_host_ota.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_host_ota.py
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ async def test_host_ota_self_update(
         if "OTA staged at" in line:
             staged.set()
         # The host backend has no gzip support, so the upload negotiates deflate
-        if " bytes from " in line:
+        if "Inflated " in line and " bytes from " in line:
             inflated.set()
         dev.on_log(line)