diff --git a/esphome/core/string_ref.h b/esphome/core/string_ref.h
index 6f15f9da0c..0c4a1d3fa8 100644
--- a/esphome/core/string_ref.h
+++ b/esphome/core/string_ref.h
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ inline double stod(const StringRef &str, size_t *pos = nullptr) {
 
 #ifdef USE_JSON
 // NOLINTNEXTLINE(readability-identifier-naming)
-inline void convertToJson(const StringRef &src, JsonVariant dst) { dst.set(src.c_str()); }
+inline void convertToJson(const StringRef &src, JsonVariant dst) { dst.set(src.empty() ? "" : src.c_str()); }
 #endif  // USE_JSON
 
 }  // namespace esphome
diff --git a/tests/components/core/test_string_ref.cpp b/tests/components/core/test_string_ref.cpp
index 761fe9cb8d..947b738572 100644
--- a/tests/components/core/test_string_ref.cpp
+++ b/tests/components/core/test_string_ref.cpp
@@ -94,4 +94,12 @@ TEST(StringRefNullEmpty, ComparesAgainstText) {
   EXPECT_TRUE(text.starts_with(null_empty));
 }
 
+TEST(StringRefNullEmpty, TwoNullViewsAreEqual) {
+  const StringRef a{nullptr, 0};
+  const StringRef b{nullptr, 0};
+  EXPECT_TRUE(a == b);
+  EXPECT_EQ(a.compare(b), 0);
+  EXPECT_TRUE(a.starts_with(b));
+}
+
 }  // namespace esphome::core::testing