diff --git a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.cpp b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.cpp
index 99c8b5f228..52188b2621 100644
--- a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include <cassert>
 #include <cinttypes>
 #include <cmath>
+#include <type_traits>
 
 #ifdef USE_ESP32
 #if (ESP_IDF_VERSION_MAJOR >= 5 && ESP_IDF_VERSION_MINOR >= 1)
diff --git a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.h b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.h
index f0ccc95abe..7ae8a2c18a 100644
--- a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.h
+++ b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.h
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 #include <span>
 #include <string>
+#include <type_traits>
 #include <vector>
 
 #ifdef USE_LIBRETINY
@@ -219,12 +220,14 @@ class CompactString {
 };
 
 static_assert(sizeof(CompactString) == 20, "CompactString must be exactly 20 bytes");
-// CompactString is safe to memcpy for permutation-based sorting (no ownership duplication).
-// Unlike libstdc++ std::string which uses a self-referential pointer (_M_p -> _M_local_buf)
-// in SSO mode, CompactString stores either inline data or an external heap pointer in
-// storage_[] — never a pointer to itself. These asserts guard that property.
-static_assert(std::is_standard_layout<CompactString>::value, "CompactString must be standard layout for memcpy safety");
-static_assert(!std::is_polymorphic<CompactString>::value, "CompactString must not have vtable for memcpy safety");
+// CompactString is not trivially copyable (non-trivial destructor/copy for heap case).
+// However, its layout has no self-referential pointers: storage_[] contains either inline
+// data or an external heap pointer — never a pointer to itself. This is unlike libstdc++
+// std::string SSO where _M_p points to _M_local_buf within the same object.
+// This property allows memcpy-based permutation sorting where each element ends up in
+// exactly one slot (no ownership duplication). These asserts document that layout property.
+static_assert(std::is_standard_layout<CompactString>::value, "CompactString must be standard layout");
+static_assert(!std::is_polymorphic<CompactString>::value, "CompactString must not have vtable");
 
 class WiFiAP {
   friend class WiFiComponent;