diff --git a/esphome/components/ota/ota_component.cpp b/esphome/components/ota/ota_component.cpp
index f217bd32d1..5e07bb64e7 100644
--- a/esphome/components/ota/ota_component.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/ota/ota_component.cpp
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ void OTAComponent::handle_() {
     ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Auth: Result is %s", sbuf);
 
     // Receive result, 32 bytes hex MD5
-    if (!this->writeall_(buf + 64, 32)) {
+    if (!this->readall_(buf + 64, 32)) {
       ESP_LOGW(TAG, "Auth: Reading response failed!");
       goto error;
     }