diff --git a/esphome/components/wifi/__init__.py b/esphome/components/wifi/__init__.py
index a40f04cc45..6edd84e589 100644
--- a/esphome/components/wifi/__init__.py
+++ b/esphome/components/wifi/__init__.py
@@ -271,7 +271,15 @@ def final_validate(config):
 
 
 def _consume_wifi_sockets(config: ConfigType) -> ConfigType:
-    """Register UDP PCBs used internally by lwIP for DHCP and DNS."""
+    """Register UDP PCBs used internally by lwIP for DHCP and DNS.
+
+    Only needed on LibreTiny where we directly set MEMP_NUM_UDP_PCB (the raw
+    PCB pool shared by both application sockets and lwIP internals like DHCP/DNS).
+    On ESP32, CONFIG_LWIP_MAX_SOCKETS only controls the POSIX socket layer —
+    DHCP/DNS use raw udp_new() which bypasses it entirely.
+    """
+    if not (CORE.is_bk72xx or CORE.is_rtl87xx or CORE.is_ln882x):
+        return config
     from esphome.components import socket
 
     # lwIP allocates UDP PCBs for DHCP client and DNS resolver internally.