diff --git a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
index f7189ad134..010d6d780d 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
@@ -499,7 +499,7 @@ uint16_t APIConnection::try_send_light_state(EntityBase *entity, APIConnection *
   resp.cold_white = values.get_cold_white();
   resp.warm_white = values.get_warm_white();
   if (light->supports_effects()) {
-    resp.effect = light->get_effect_name_ref();
+    resp.effect = light->get_effect_name();
   }
   return fill_and_encode_entity_state(light, resp, LightStateResponse::MESSAGE_TYPE, conn, remaining_size, is_single);
 }