diff --git a/esphome/components/light/light_json_schema.cpp b/esphome/components/light/light_json_schema.cpp
index 7679002e74..98b03f9458 100644
--- a/esphome/components/light/light_json_schema.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/light/light_json_schema.cpp
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ void LightJSONSchema::parse_json(LightState &state, LightCall &call, JsonObject
 
   if (root[ESPHOME_F("effect")].is<const char *>()) {
     const char *effect = root[ESPHOME_F("effect")];
-    call.set_effect(effect);
+    call.set_effect(effect, strlen(effect));
   }
 
   if (root[ESPHOME_F("effect_index")].is<uint32_t>()) {