diff --git a/esphome/components/senseair/senseair.cpp b/esphome/components/senseair/senseair.cpp
index 610892dd9e..50b9e01f17 100644
--- a/esphome/components/senseair/senseair.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/senseair/senseair.cpp
@@ -141,12 +141,16 @@ void SenseAirComponent::abc_get_period() {
 }
 
 bool SenseAirComponent::senseair_write_command_(const uint8_t *command, uint8_t *response, uint8_t response_length) {
+  // Verify we have somewhere to store the response
+  if (response == nullptr) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  // Write wake up byte required by some S8 sensor models
+  this->write_byte(0);
   this->flush();
+  delay(5);
   this->write_array(command, SENSEAIR_REQUEST_LENGTH);
 
-  if (response == nullptr)
-    return true;
-
   bool ret = this->read_array(response, response_length);
   this->flush();
   return ret;