diff --git a/esphome/components/esp32_ble/ble_event.h b/esphome/components/esp32_ble/ble_event.h
index 299fd7705f..ba87fd8805 100644
--- a/esphome/components/esp32_ble/ble_event.h
+++ b/esphome/components/esp32_ble/ble_event.h
@@ -155,44 +155,38 @@ class BLEEvent {
   void release() {
     switch (this->type_) {
       case GAP:
-        // GAP events don't have heap allocations
+        // GAP events never have heap allocations
         break;
       case GATTC:
-        // Param is now stored inline, only delete heap data if it was heap-allocated
         if (!this->event_.gattc.is_inline && this->event_.gattc.data.heap_data != nullptr) {
           delete[] this->event_.gattc.data.heap_data;
+          this->event_.gattc.data.heap_data = nullptr;
         }
-        // Clear critical fields to prevent issues if type changes
-        this->event_.gattc.is_inline = false;
-        this->event_.gattc.data.heap_data = nullptr;
         break;
       case GATTS:
-        // Param is now stored inline, only delete heap data if it was heap-allocated
         if (!this->event_.gatts.is_inline && this->event_.gatts.data.heap_data != nullptr) {
           delete[] this->event_.gatts.data.heap_data;
+          this->event_.gatts.data.heap_data = nullptr;
         }
-        // Clear critical fields to prevent issues if type changes
-        this->event_.gatts.is_inline = false;
-        this->event_.gatts.data.heap_data = nullptr;
         break;
     }
   }
 
   // Load new event data for reuse (replaces previous event data)
+  // Note: release() is NOT called here because EventPool::release() already
+  // calls event->release() before returning to the free list. Every event
+  // from allocate() is already in a clean state.
   void load_gap_event(esp_gap_ble_cb_event_t e, esp_ble_gap_cb_param_t *p) {
-    this->release();
     this->type_ = GAP;
     this->init_gap_data_(e, p);
   }
 
   void load_gattc_event(esp_gattc_cb_event_t e, esp_gatt_if_t i, esp_ble_gattc_cb_param_t *p) {
-    this->release();
     this->type_ = GATTC;
     this->init_gattc_data_(e, i, p);
   }
 
   void load_gatts_event(esp_gatts_cb_event_t e, esp_gatt_if_t i, esp_ble_gatts_cb_param_t *p) {
-    this->release();
     this->type_ = GATTS;
     this->init_gatts_data_(e, i, p);
   }
diff --git a/esphome/core/lock_free_queue.h b/esphome/core/lock_free_queue.h
index 522fbd36e1..316186ea54 100644
--- a/esphome/core/lock_free_queue.h
+++ b/esphome/core/lock_free_queue.h
@@ -104,7 +104,15 @@ template<class T, uint8_t SIZE> class LockFreeQueue {
     }
   }
 
-  uint16_t get_and_reset_dropped_count() { return dropped_count_.exchange(0, std::memory_order_relaxed); }
+  uint16_t get_and_reset_dropped_count() {
+    // Fast path: relaxed load is a single instruction on all platforms.
+    // The atomic exchange (especially for uint16_t on Xtensa) compiles to
+    // an expensive sub-word CAS retry loop (~25 instructions + memory barriers).
+    // Since drops are rare, avoid the exchange in the common case.
+    if (dropped_count_.load(std::memory_order_relaxed) == 0)
+      return 0;
+    return dropped_count_.exchange(0, std::memory_order_relaxed);
+  }
 
   void increment_dropped_count() { dropped_count_.fetch_add(1, std::memory_order_relaxed); }