diff --git a/esphome/core/scheduler.cpp b/esphome/core/scheduler.cpp
index bd39447c11..515f6fd355 100644
--- a/esphome/core/scheduler.cpp
+++ b/esphome/core/scheduler.cpp
@@ -234,10 +234,12 @@ void HOT Scheduler::call() {
     // The outer check is done without a lock for performance. If the queue
     // appears non-empty, we lock and process an item. We don't need to check
     // empty() again inside the lock because only this thread can remove items.
-    this->lock_.lock();
-    auto item = std::move(this->defer_queue_.front());
-    this->defer_queue_.pop_front();
-    this->lock_.unlock();
+    std::unique_ptr<SchedulerItem> item;
+    {
+      LockGuard lock(this->lock_);
+      item = std::move(this->defer_queue_.front());
+      this->defer_queue_.pop_front();
+    }
 
     // Execute callback without holding lock to prevent deadlocks
     // if the callback tries to call defer() again
diff --git a/esphome/core/scheduler.h b/esphome/core/scheduler.h
index 060ec34da9..bf5e63cccf 100644
--- a/esphome/core/scheduler.h
+++ b/esphome/core/scheduler.h
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ class Scheduler {
   // Common implementation for cancel operations
   bool cancel_item_common_(Component *component, bool is_static_string, const void *name_ptr, SchedulerItem::Type type);
 
+ private:
   bool cancel_item_(Component *component, const std::string &name, SchedulerItem::Type type);
   bool cancel_item_(Component *component, const char *name, SchedulerItem::Type type);