diff --git a/esphome/core/lock_free_queue.h b/esphome/core/lock_free_queue.h
index 7e29080f8e..e7c9ddb11f 100644
--- a/esphome/core/lock_free_queue.h
+++ b/esphome/core/lock_free_queue.h
@@ -118,9 +118,26 @@ template<class T, uint8_t SIZE> class NotifyingLockFreeQueue : public LockFreeQu
     bool was_empty;
     bool result = this->push_internal_(element, was_empty);
 
-    // Notify if push succeeded and queue was empty
-    if (result && task_to_notify_ != nullptr && was_empty) {
-      xTaskNotifyGive(task_to_notify_);
+    // Notify optimization: only notify if we need to
+    if (result && task_to_notify_ != nullptr) {
+      if (was_empty) {
+        // Queue was empty - consumer might be going to sleep, must notify
+        xTaskNotifyGive(task_to_notify_);
+      } else {
+        // Queue wasn't empty - check if consumer has caught up to previous tail
+        uint8_t current_tail = this->tail_.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
+        uint8_t head_after = this->head_.load(std::memory_order_acquire);
+        // We just pushed, so go back one position to get the old tail
+        uint8_t previous_tail = (current_tail + SIZE - 1) % SIZE;
+        if (head_after == previous_tail) {
+          // Consumer just caught up to where tail was - might go to sleep, must notify
+          // Note: There's a benign race here - between reading head_after and calling
+          // xTaskNotifyGive(), the consumer could advance further. This would result
+          // in an unnecessary wake-up, but is harmless and extremely rare in practice.
+          xTaskNotifyGive(task_to_notify_);
+        }
+        // Otherwise: consumer is still behind, no need to notify
+      }
     }
 
     return result;