diff --git a/esphome/components/api/proto.h b/esphome/components/api/proto.h
index 04ce317caca..55021186a62 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/proto.h
+++ b/esphome/components/api/proto.h
@@ -498,6 +498,17 @@ class ProtoEncode {
     progmem_memcpy(pos, data, len);
     return pos + len;
   }
+  /// encode_progmem_bytes for a string field that may be in flash.
+  [[nodiscard]] static inline uint8_t *encode_progmem_string(uint8_t *__restrict__ pos PROTO_ENCODE_DEBUG_PARAM,
+                                                             uint32_t field_id, const ProgmemStringRef &ref) {
+    return encode_progmem_bytes(pos PROTO_ENCODE_DEBUG_ARG, field_id,
+                                reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t *>(ref.progmem_ptr()), ref.size());
+  }
+  [[nodiscard]] static inline uint8_t *encode_progmem_string_force(uint8_t *__restrict__ pos PROTO_ENCODE_DEBUG_PARAM,
+                                                                   uint32_t field_id, const ProgmemStringRef &ref) {
+    return encode_progmem_bytes_force(pos PROTO_ENCODE_DEBUG_ARG, field_id,
+                                      reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t *>(ref.progmem_ptr()), ref.size());
+  }
   [[nodiscard]] static inline uint8_t *encode_uint32_force(uint8_t *__restrict__ pos PROTO_ENCODE_DEBUG_PARAM,
                                                            uint32_t field_id, uint32_t value) {
     pos = encode_field_raw(pos PROTO_ENCODE_DEBUG_ARG, field_id, 0);
diff --git a/script/api_protobuf/api_protobuf.py b/script/api_protobuf/api_protobuf.py
index 5c29733f342..aaa1663dbba 100755
--- a/script/api_protobuf/api_protobuf.py
+++ b/script/api_protobuf/api_protobuf.py
@@ -1285,10 +1285,9 @@ class PointerToStringBufferType(PointerToBufferTypeBase):
                 return _encode_call(encode_fn, str(tag), f"this->{self.field_name}")
         if self.progmem:
             return _encode_call(
-                "encode_progmem_bytes",
+                "encode_progmem_string",
                 str(self.number),
-                f"reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t *>(this->{self.field_name}.progmem_ptr())",
-                f"this->{self.field_name}.size()",
+                f"this->{self.field_name}",
                 force=self.force,
             )
         if result := self._encode_bytes_with_precomputed_tag(
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/components/api/test_api_protobuf_generator.py b/tests/unit_tests/components/api/test_api_protobuf_generator.py
index 4927b620205..9d8eab69b90 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/components/api/test_api_protobuf_generator.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/components/api/test_api_protobuf_generator.py
@@ -419,8 +419,8 @@ def test_progmem_rejected_on_non_bytes_field() -> None:
     ("force", "max_len", "encode_fn"),
     [
         (True, 120, "encode_short_progmem_string_force("),
-        (False, None, "encode_progmem_bytes("),
-        (True, None, "encode_progmem_bytes_force("),
+        (False, None, "encode_progmem_string("),
+        (True, None, "encode_progmem_string_force("),
     ],
 )
 def test_progmem_string_field_copies_from_flash(