diff --git a/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.cpp b/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.cpp
index a577d42b50..8d88a10b27 100644
--- a/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.cpp
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ void CaptivePortal::handleRequest(AsyncWebServerRequest *req) {
   char url_buf[AsyncWebServerRequest::URL_BUF_SIZE];
   StringRef url = req->url_to(url_buf);
 #else
-  auto url = req->url();
+  const auto &url = req->url();
 #endif
   if (url == ESPHOME_F("/config.json")) {
     this->handle_config(req);
diff --git a/esphome/components/web_server/web_server.cpp b/esphome/components/web_server/web_server.cpp
index 360081f4ab..b43383cafa 100644
--- a/esphome/components/web_server/web_server.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/web_server/web_server.cpp
@@ -2179,7 +2179,7 @@ bool WebServer::canHandle(AsyncWebServerRequest *request) const {
   char url_buf[AsyncWebServerRequest::URL_BUF_SIZE];
   StringRef url = request->url_to(url_buf);
 #else
-  auto url = request->url();
+  const auto &url = request->url();
 #endif
   const auto method = request->method();
 
@@ -2320,7 +2320,7 @@ void WebServer::handleRequest(AsyncWebServerRequest *request) {
   char url_buf[AsyncWebServerRequest::URL_BUF_SIZE];
   StringRef url = request->url_to(url_buf);
 #else
-  auto url = request->url();
+  const auto &url = request->url();
 #endif
 
   // Handle static routes first