diff --git a/esphome/__main__.py b/esphome/__main__.py
index 55fbbc6c8a..38efe58b95 100644
--- a/esphome/__main__.py
+++ b/esphome/__main__.py
@@ -518,10 +518,58 @@ def compile_program(args: ArgsProtocol, config: ConfigType) -> int:
     rc = platformio_api.run_compile(config, CORE.verbose)
     if rc != 0:
         return rc
+
+    # Check if firmware was rebuilt and emit buildinfo + create manifest
+    _check_and_emit_buildinfo()
+
     idedata = platformio_api.get_idedata(config)
     return 0 if idedata is not None else 1
 
 
+def _check_and_emit_buildinfo():
+    """Check if firmware was rebuilt and emit buildinfo."""
+
+    firmware_path = CORE.firmware_bin
+    buildinfo_script_path = CORE.relative_build_path("buildinfo.ld")
+
+    # Check if both files exist
+    if not firmware_path.exists() or not buildinfo_script_path.exists():
+        return
+
+    # Check if firmware is newer than buildinfo script (indicating a relink occurred)
+    if firmware_path.stat().st_mtime <= buildinfo_script_path.stat().st_mtime:
+        return
+
+    # Read buildinfo values from linker script
+    try:
+        with open(buildinfo_script_path, encoding="utf-8") as f:
+            content = f.read()
+
+        config_hash_match = re.search(
+            r"ESPHOME_CONFIG_HASH = 0x([0-9a-fA-F]+);", content
+        )
+        build_time_match = re.search(r"ESPHOME_BUILD_TIME = (\d+);", content)
+
+        if not config_hash_match or not build_time_match:
+            return
+
+        config_hash = config_hash_match.group(1)
+        build_time = int(build_time_match.group(1))
+
+        # Emit buildinfo
+        print("=== ESPHome Build Info ===")
+        print(f"Config Hash: 0x{config_hash}")
+        print(
+            f"Build Time:  {build_time} ({time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %z', time.localtime(build_time))})"
+        )
+        print("===========================")
+
+        # TODO: Future commit will create JSON manifest with OTA metadata here
+
+    except OSError as e:
+        _LOGGER.debug("Failed to emit buildinfo: %s", e)
+
+
 def upload_using_esptool(
     config: ConfigType, port: str, file: str, speed: int
 ) -> str | int:
diff --git a/esphome/core/buildinfo.cpp b/esphome/core/buildinfo.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d17bf01124
--- /dev/null
+++ b/esphome/core/buildinfo.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+// Build information using linker-provided symbols
+//
+// Including build information into the build is fun, because we *don't*
+// want the mere fact of changing the build time to *itself* cause a
+// rebuild if nothing else had changed. If we do the naïve thing of
+// just putting #defines in a header like version.h, we'll cause exactly
+// that.
+//
+// So instead we provide the config hash and build time in a linker
+// script, so they get pulled in only if the firmware is already being
+// rebuilt.
+#include "esphome/core/buildinfo.h"
+#include <cstdio>
+
+// Linker-provided symbols - declare as extern variables, not functions
+extern "C" {
+extern const char ESPHOME_CONFIG_HASH[];
+extern const char ESPHOME_BUILD_TIME[];
+}
+
+namespace esphome {
+namespace buildinfo {
+
+// Reference the linker symbols as uintptr_t from the *data* section to
+// avoid issues with pc-relative relocations on 64-bit platforms.
+static const uintptr_t config_hash = (uintptr_t) &ESPHOME_CONFIG_HASH;
+static const uintptr_t build_time = (uintptr_t) &ESPHOME_BUILD_TIME;
+
+const char *get_config_hash() {
+  static char hash_str[9];
+  snprintf(hash_str, sizeof(hash_str), "%08x", (uint32_t) config_hash);
+  return hash_str;
+}
+
+time_t get_build_time() { return (time_t) build_time; }
+
+}  // namespace buildinfo
+}  // namespace esphome
diff --git a/esphome/core/buildinfo.h b/esphome/core/buildinfo.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cc4656f4dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/esphome/core/buildinfo.h
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#pragma once
+#include <cstdint>
+#include <ctime>
+
+// Build information functions that provide config hash and build time.
+// The actual values are provided by linker-defined symbols to avoid
+// unnecessary rebuilds when only the build time changes.
+// This is kept in its own file so that only files that need build-specific
+// information have to include it explicitly.
+
+namespace esphome {
+namespace buildinfo {
+
+const char *get_config_hash();
+time_t get_build_time();
+
+}  // namespace buildinfo
+}  // namespace esphome
diff --git a/esphome/writer.py b/esphome/writer.py
index 721db07f96..f955b22b79 100644
--- a/esphome/writer.py
+++ b/esphome/writer.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from collections.abc import Callable
+import hashlib
 import importlib
 import logging
 import os
@@ -6,6 +7,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 import re
 import shutil
 import stat
+import time
 from types import TracebackType
 
 from esphome import loader
@@ -23,6 +25,7 @@ from esphome.helpers import (
     is_ha_addon,
     read_file,
     walk_files,
+    write_file,
     write_file_if_changed,
 )
 from esphome.storage_json import StorageJSON, storage_path
@@ -173,6 +176,7 @@ VERSION_H_FORMAT = """\
 """
 DEFINES_H_TARGET = "esphome/core/defines.h"
 VERSION_H_TARGET = "esphome/core/version.h"
+BUILDINFO_H_TARGET = "esphome/core/buildinfo.h"
 ESPHOME_README_TXT = """
 THIS DIRECTORY IS AUTO-GENERATED, DO NOT MODIFY
 
@@ -245,6 +249,12 @@ def copy_src_tree():
     write_file_if_changed(
         CORE.relative_src_path("esphome", "core", "version.h"), generate_version_h()
     )
+    # Write buildinfo generation script
+    write_file(
+        CORE.relative_build_path("generate_buildinfo.py"), generate_buildinfo_script()
+    )
+    # Add buildinfo script to platformio extra_scripts
+    CORE.add_platformio_option("extra_scripts", ["pre:generate_buildinfo.py"])
 
     platform = "esphome.components." + CORE.target_platform
     try:
@@ -270,6 +280,33 @@ def generate_version_h():
     )
 
 
+def generate_buildinfo_script():
+    from esphome import yaml_util
+
+    # Use the same clean YAML representation as 'esphome config' command
+    config_str = yaml_util.dump(CORE.config, show_secrets=True)
+
+    config_hash = hashlib.md5(config_str.encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()[:8]
+    config_hash_int = int(config_hash, 16)
+    build_time = int(time.time())
+
+    # Generate linker script content
+    linker_script = f"""/* Auto-generated buildinfo symbols */
+ESPHOME_CONFIG_HASH = 0x{config_hash_int:08x};
+ESPHOME_BUILD_TIME = {build_time};
+"""
+
+    # Write linker script file
+    with open(CORE.relative_build_path("buildinfo.ld"), "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        f.write(linker_script)
+
+    return """#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# Buildinfo linker script already generated
+Import("env")
+env.Append(LINKFLAGS=["buildinfo.ld"])
+"""
+
+
 def write_cpp(code_s):
     path = CORE.relative_src_path("main.cpp")
     if path.is_file():