diff --git a/esphome/components/captive_portal/dns_server_esp32_idf.cpp b/esphome/components/captive_portal/dns_server_esp32_idf.cpp
index 740107400a..0a7ea4d7f3 100644
--- a/esphome/components/captive_portal/dns_server_esp32_idf.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/captive_portal/dns_server_esp32_idf.cpp
@@ -47,7 +47,10 @@ struct DNSAnswer {
 
 void DNSServer::start(const network::IPAddress &ip) {
   this->server_ip_ = ip;
-  ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Starting DNS server on %s", ip.str().c_str());
+#if ESPHOME_LOG_LEVEL >= ESPHOME_LOG_LEVEL_VERBOSE
+  char ip_buf[network::IP_ADDRESS_BUFFER_SIZE];
+  ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Starting DNS server on %s", ip.str_to(ip_buf));
+#endif
 
   // Create loop-monitored UDP socket
   this->socket_ = socket::socket_ip_loop_monitored(SOCK_DGRAM, IPPROTO_UDP);