diff --git a/esphome/components/api/__init__.py b/esphome/components/api/__init__.py
index 51654f1b7c1..da75133a8ab 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/__init__.py
+++ b/esphome/components/api/__init__.py
@@ -524,30 +524,23 @@ async def homeassistant_service_to_code(
     cg.add_define("USE_API_HOMEASSISTANT_SERVICES")
     serv = await cg.get_variable(config[CONF_ID])
     var = cg.new_Pvariable(action_id, template_arg, serv, False)
-    templ = await cg.templatable(config[CONF_ACTION], args, None)
-    # Wrap static strings in ESPHOME_F() for PROGMEM on ESP8266
-    if isinstance(templ, str):
-        templ = cg.FlashStringLiteral(templ)
+    templ = await cg.templatable(config[CONF_ACTION], args, cg.std_string)
     cg.add(var.set_service(templ))
 
     # Initialize FixedVectors with exact sizes from config
     cg.add(var.init_data(len(config[CONF_DATA])))
     for key, value in config[CONF_DATA].items():
-        templ = await cg.templatable(value, args, None)
-        if isinstance(templ, str):
-            templ = cg.FlashStringLiteral(templ)
+        templ = await cg.templatable(value, args, cg.std_string)
         cg.add(var.add_data(cg.FlashStringLiteral(key), templ))
 
     cg.add(var.init_data_template(len(config[CONF_DATA_TEMPLATE])))
     for key, value in config[CONF_DATA_TEMPLATE].items():
-        templ = await cg.templatable(value, args, None)
-        if isinstance(templ, str):
-            templ = cg.FlashStringLiteral(templ)
+        templ = await cg.templatable(value, args, cg.std_string)
         cg.add(var.add_data_template(cg.FlashStringLiteral(key), templ))
 
     cg.add(var.init_variables(len(config[CONF_VARIABLES])))
     for key, value in config[CONF_VARIABLES].items():
-        templ = await cg.templatable(value, args, None)
+        templ = await cg.templatable(value, args, cg.std_string)
         cg.add(var.add_variable(cg.FlashStringLiteral(key), templ))
 
     if on_error := config.get(CONF_ON_ERROR):
@@ -616,29 +609,23 @@ async def homeassistant_event_to_code(config, action_id, template_arg, args):
     cg.add_define("USE_API_HOMEASSISTANT_SERVICES")
     serv = await cg.get_variable(config[CONF_ID])
     var = cg.new_Pvariable(action_id, template_arg, serv, True)
-    templ = await cg.templatable(config[CONF_EVENT], args, None)
-    if isinstance(templ, str):
-        templ = cg.FlashStringLiteral(templ)
+    templ = await cg.templatable(config[CONF_EVENT], args, cg.std_string)
     cg.add(var.set_service(templ))
 
     # Initialize FixedVectors with exact sizes from config
     cg.add(var.init_data(len(config[CONF_DATA])))
     for key, value in config[CONF_DATA].items():
-        templ = await cg.templatable(value, args, None)
-        if isinstance(templ, str):
-            templ = cg.FlashStringLiteral(templ)
+        templ = await cg.templatable(value, args, cg.std_string)
         cg.add(var.add_data(cg.FlashStringLiteral(key), templ))
 
     cg.add(var.init_data_template(len(config[CONF_DATA_TEMPLATE])))
     for key, value in config[CONF_DATA_TEMPLATE].items():
-        templ = await cg.templatable(value, args, None)
-        if isinstance(templ, str):
-            templ = cg.FlashStringLiteral(templ)
+        templ = await cg.templatable(value, args, cg.std_string)
         cg.add(var.add_data_template(cg.FlashStringLiteral(key), templ))
 
     cg.add(var.init_variables(len(config[CONF_VARIABLES])))
     for key, value in config[CONF_VARIABLES].items():
-        templ = await cg.templatable(value, args, None)
+        templ = await cg.templatable(value, args, cg.std_string)
         cg.add(var.add_variable(cg.FlashStringLiteral(key), templ))
 
     return var
@@ -666,8 +653,6 @@ async def homeassistant_tag_scanned_to_code(config, action_id, template_arg, arg
     # Initialize FixedVector with exact size (1 data field)
     cg.add(var.init_data(1))
     templ = await cg.templatable(config[CONF_TAG], args, cg.std_string)
-    if isinstance(templ, str):
-        templ = cg.FlashStringLiteral(templ)
     cg.add(var.add_data(cg.FlashStringLiteral("tag_id"), templ))
     return var
 
diff --git a/esphome/cpp_generator.py b/esphome/cpp_generator.py
index 020f54d6b2b..c1476aa728b 100644
--- a/esphome/cpp_generator.py
+++ b/esphome/cpp_generator.py
@@ -778,6 +778,10 @@ async def templatable(
     if is_template(value):
         return await process_lambda(value, args, return_type=output_type)
     if to_exp is None:
+        # Automatically wrap static strings in ESPHOME_F() for PROGMEM storage on ESP8266.
+        # On other platforms ESPHOME_F() is a no-op returning const char*.
+        if isinstance(value, str) and str(output_type) == "std::string":
+            return FlashStringLiteral(value)
         return value
     if isinstance(to_exp, dict):
         return to_exp[value]