diff --git a/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_backend_esp32.cpp b/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_backend_esp32.cpp
index 2d4e6802f2..9e89b3d493 100644
--- a/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_backend_esp32.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_backend_esp32.cpp
@@ -138,13 +138,16 @@ void MQTTBackendESP32::mqtt_event_handler_(const Event &event) {
       this->on_publish_.call((int) event.msg_id);
       break;
     case MQTT_EVENT_DATA: {
-      static std::string topic;
       if (event.topic.length() > 0) {
-        topic = event.topic;
+        // When a single message arrives as multiple chunks, the topic will be nullptr
+        // on any but the first message, leading to event.topic being an empty string.
+        // To ensure handlers get the correct topic, cache the last seen topic to
+        // simulate always receiving the topic from underlying library
+        topic_cache_ = event.topic;
       }
-      ESP_LOGV(TAG, "MQTT_EVENT_DATA %s", topic.c_str());
-      this->on_message_.call(event.topic.length() > 0 ? topic.c_str() : nullptr, event.data.data(), event.data.size(),
-                             event.current_data_offset, event.total_data_len);
+      ESP_LOGV(TAG, "MQTT_EVENT_DATA %s", topic_cache_.c_str());
+      this->on_message_.call(topic_cache_.c_str(), event.data.data(), event.data.size(), event.current_data_offset,
+                             event.total_data_len);
     } break;
     case MQTT_EVENT_ERROR:
       ESP_LOGE(TAG, "MQTT_EVENT_ERROR");
diff --git a/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_backend_esp32.h b/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_backend_esp32.h
index a4ee96ca59..ddeb98da96 100644
--- a/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_backend_esp32.h
+++ b/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_backend_esp32.h
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ class MQTTBackendESP32 final : public MQTTBackend {
   bool clean_session_;
   optional<std::string> ca_certificate_;
   bool skip_cert_cn_check_{false};
+  std::string topic_cache_;
 
   // callbacks
   CallbackManager<on_connect_callback_t> on_connect_;