diff --git a/esphome/build_gen/espidf.py b/esphome/build_gen/espidf.py
index 9df9b1069c..01923baaac 100644
--- a/esphome/build_gen/espidf.py
+++ b/esphome/build_gen/espidf.py
@@ -53,6 +53,13 @@ def get_project_cmakelists() -> str:
     variant = get_esp32_variant()
     idf_target = variant.lower().replace("-", "")
 
+    # Extract compile definitions from build flags (-DXXX -> XXX)
+    compile_defs = [flag for flag in CORE.build_flags if flag.startswith("-D")]
+    extra_compile_options = "\n".join(
+        f'idf_build_set_property(COMPILE_OPTIONS "{compile_def}" APPEND)'
+        for compile_def in compile_defs
+    )
+
     return f"""\
 # Auto-generated by ESPHome
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
@@ -61,6 +68,9 @@ set(IDF_TARGET {idf_target})
 set(EXTRA_COMPONENT_DIRS ${{CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}}/src)
 
 include($ENV{{IDF_PATH}}/tools/cmake/project.cmake)
+
+{extra_compile_options}
+
 project({CORE.name})
 """
 
@@ -70,10 +80,6 @@ def get_component_cmakelists(minimal: bool = False) -> str:
     idf_requires = [] if minimal else (get_available_components() or [])
     requires_str = " ".join(idf_requires)
 
-    # Extract compile definitions from build flags (-DXXX -> XXX)
-    compile_defs = [flag[2:] for flag in CORE.build_flags if flag.startswith("-D")]
-    compile_defs_str = "\n    ".join(sorted(compile_defs)) if compile_defs else ""
-
     # Extract compile options (-W flags, excluding linker flags)
     compile_opts = [
         flag
@@ -104,11 +110,6 @@ idf_component_register(
 # Apply C++ standard
 target_compile_features(${{COMPONENT_LIB}} PUBLIC cxx_std_20)
 
-# ESPHome compile definitions
-target_compile_definitions(${{COMPONENT_LIB}} PUBLIC
-    {compile_defs_str}
-)
-
 # ESPHome compile options
 target_compile_options(${{COMPONENT_LIB}} PUBLIC
     {compile_opts_str}