diff --git a/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.cpp b/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.cpp
index 30438747f2..c2d3f63837 100644
--- a/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.cpp
@@ -63,6 +63,12 @@ void CaptivePortal::start() {
   this->base_->init();
   if (!this->initialized_) {
     this->base_->add_handler(this);
+#ifdef USE_ESP_IDF
+    // Enable LRU socket purging to handle captive portal detection probe bursts
+    // OS captive portal detection makes many simultaneous HTTP requests which can
+    // exhaust sockets. LRU purging automatically closes oldest idle connections.
+    this->base_->get_server()->set_lru_purge_enable(true);
+#endif
   }
 
   network::IPAddress ip = wifi::global_wifi_component->wifi_soft_ap_ip();
diff --git a/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.h b/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.h
index f48c286f0c..e98a2b6511 100644
--- a/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.h
+++ b/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.h
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ class CaptivePortal : public AsyncWebHandler, public Component {
   void end() {
     this->active_ = false;
     this->disable_loop();  // Stop processing DNS requests
+#ifdef USE_ESP_IDF
+    // Disable LRU socket purging now that captive portal is done
+    this->base_->get_server()->set_lru_purge_enable(false);
+#endif
     this->base_->deinit();
     if (this->dns_server_ != nullptr) {
       this->dns_server_->stop();
diff --git a/esphome/components/web_server_idf/web_server_idf.cpp b/esphome/components/web_server_idf/web_server_idf.cpp
index 08528f12ec..f5a66f6bd9 100644
--- a/esphome/components/web_server_idf/web_server_idf.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/web_server_idf/web_server_idf.cpp
@@ -94,6 +94,18 @@ void AsyncWebServer::end() {
   }
 }
 
+void AsyncWebServer::set_lru_purge_enable(bool enable) {
+  if (this->lru_purge_enable_ == enable) {
+    return;  // No change needed
+  }
+  this->lru_purge_enable_ = enable;
+  // If server is already running, restart it with new config
+  if (this->server_) {
+    this->end();
+    this->begin();
+  }
+}
+
 void AsyncWebServer::begin() {
   if (this->server_) {
     this->end();
@@ -101,9 +113,8 @@ void AsyncWebServer::begin() {
   httpd_config_t config = HTTPD_DEFAULT_CONFIG();
   config.server_port = this->port_;
   config.uri_match_fn = [](const char * /*unused*/, const char * /*unused*/, size_t /*unused*/) { return true; };
-  // Enable LRU purging to close oldest idle connections when socket limit is reached
-  // This prevents socket exhaustion when multiple clients connect (e.g., captive portal probes)
-  config.lru_purge_enable = true;
+  // Enable LRU purging if requested (e.g., by captive portal to handle probe bursts)
+  config.lru_purge_enable = this->lru_purge_enable_;
   if (httpd_start(&this->server_, &config) == ESP_OK) {
     const httpd_uri_t handler_get = {
         .uri = "",
diff --git a/esphome/components/web_server_idf/web_server_idf.h b/esphome/components/web_server_idf/web_server_idf.h
index 5ec6fec009..b9f690b462 100644
--- a/esphome/components/web_server_idf/web_server_idf.h
+++ b/esphome/components/web_server_idf/web_server_idf.h
@@ -199,9 +199,13 @@ class AsyncWebServer {
     return *handler;
   }
 
+  void set_lru_purge_enable(bool enable);
+  httpd_handle_t get_server() { return this->server_; }
+
  protected:
   uint16_t port_{};
   httpd_handle_t server_{};
+  bool lru_purge_enable_{false};
   static esp_err_t request_handler(httpd_req_t *r);
   static esp_err_t request_post_handler(httpd_req_t *r);
   esp_err_t request_handler_(AsyncWebServerRequest *request) const;