diff --git a/esphome/components/esp32/__init__.py b/esphome/components/esp32/__init__.py
index 748be9ae4c..ae1f821c17 100644
--- a/esphome/components/esp32/__init__.py
+++ b/esphome/components/esp32/__init__.py
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ DEFAULT_EXCLUDED_IDF_COMPONENTS = (
     "esp_lcd",  # LCD controller drivers - only needed by display component
     "esp_local_ctrl",  # Local control over HTTPS/BLE - ESPHome has native API
     "esp_phy",  # RF PHY - re-included by internal_temperature on the original ESP32; esp_wifi/bt/ieee802154 pull it back
-    "esp_wifi",  # WiFi stack - re-included by request_wifi(), espnow; bt pulls it back for BLE builds
+    "esp_wifi",  # WiFi stack - re-included by request_wifi(), espnow, esp32_hosted; bt pulls it back for BLE builds
     "espcoredump",  # Core dump support - ESPHome has its own debug component
     "fatfs",  # FAT filesystem - ESPHome doesn't use filesystem storage
     "ieee802154",  # 802.15.4 radio - IDF openthread and the Zigbee libs pull it back
diff --git a/esphome/components/esp32_hosted/__init__.py b/esphome/components/esp32_hosted/__init__.py
index 21626e432b..6943efc3cb 100644
--- a/esphome/components/esp32_hosted/__init__.py
+++ b/esphome/components/esp32_hosted/__init__.py
@@ -290,6 +290,8 @@ async def to_code(config: ConfigType) -> None:
     # symbols are simply unused and never register a callback at runtime.
     if esp32.get_esp32_variant() == esp32.VARIANT_ESP32P4:
         add_define("USE_ESP_NOW_HOSTED")
+        # esp_now_hosted.cpp includes esp_now.h, which esp_wifi provides
+        esp32.include_builtin_idf_component("esp_wifi")
         # esp-hosted's CustomRpc ("peer data transfer") path — off by default.
         esp32.add_idf_sdkconfig_option(
             "CONFIG_ESP_HOSTED_ENABLE_PEER_DATA_TRANSFER", True
diff --git a/tests/components/esp32_hosted/test-no-wifi.esp32-p4-idf.yaml b/tests/components/esp32_hosted/test-no-wifi.esp32-p4-idf.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2f57abd296
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/components/esp32_hosted/test-no-wifi.esp32-p4-idf.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# No wifi, espnow or BLE: nothing else re-includes esp_wifi for the ESP-NOW shim.
+esp32_hosted:
+  variant: ESP32C6
+  slot: 1
+  active_high: true
+  reset_pin: GPIO15
+  cmd_pin: GPIO13
+  clk_pin: GPIO12
+  d0_pin: GPIO11
+  d1_pin: GPIO10
+  d2_pin: GPIO9
+  d3_pin: GPIO8