diff --git a/esphome/components/pmwcs3/pmwcs3.cpp b/esphome/components/pmwcs3/pmwcs3.cpp
index 812018b52e..97ce4c9ae0 100644
--- a/esphome/components/pmwcs3/pmwcs3.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/pmwcs3/pmwcs3.cpp
@@ -72,43 +72,44 @@ void PMWCS3Component::dump_config() {
   LOG_SENSOR("  ", "vwc", this->vwc_sensor_);
 }
 void PMWCS3Component::read_data_() {
-  uint8_t data[8];
-  float e25, ec, temperature, vwc;
-
   /////// Super important !!!! first activate reading PMWCS3_REG_READ_START (if not, return always the same values) ////
-
   if (!this->write_bytes(PMWCS3_REG_READ_START, nullptr, 0)) {
     this->status_set_warning();
     ESP_LOGVV(TAG, "Failed to write into REG_READ_START register !!!");
     return;
   }
-  // NOLINT  delay(100);
 
-  if (!this->read_bytes(PMWCS3_REG_GET_DATA, (uint8_t *) &data, 8)) {
-    ESP_LOGVV(TAG, "Error reading PMWCS3_REG_GET_DATA registers");
-    this->mark_failed();
-    return;
-  }
-  if (this->e25_sensor_ != nullptr) {
-    e25 = ((data[1] << 8) | data[0]) / 100.0;
-    this->e25_sensor_->publish_state(e25);
-    ESP_LOGVV(TAG, "e25: data[0]=%d, data[1]=%d, result=%f", data[0], data[1], e25);
-  }
-  if (this->ec_sensor_ != nullptr) {
-    ec = ((data[3] << 8) | data[2]) / 10.0;
-    this->ec_sensor_->publish_state(ec);
-    ESP_LOGVV(TAG, "ec: data[2]=%d, data[3]=%d, result=%f", data[2], data[3], ec);
-  }
-  if (this->temperature_sensor_ != nullptr) {
-    temperature = ((data[5] << 8) | data[4]) / 100.0;
-    this->temperature_sensor_->publish_state(temperature);
-    ESP_LOGVV(TAG, "temp: data[4]=%d, data[5]=%d, result=%f", data[4], data[5], temperature);
-  }
-  if (this->vwc_sensor_ != nullptr) {
-    vwc = ((data[7] << 8) | data[6]) / 10.0;
-    this->vwc_sensor_->publish_state(vwc);
-    ESP_LOGVV(TAG, "vwc: data[6]=%d, data[7]=%d, result=%f", data[6], data[7], vwc);
-  }
+  // Wait for the sensor to be ready.
+  // 80ms empirically determined (conservative).
+  this->set_timeout(80, [this] {
+    uint8_t data[8];
+    float e25, ec, temperature, vwc;
+    if (!this->read_bytes(PMWCS3_REG_GET_DATA, (uint8_t *) &data, 8)) {
+      ESP_LOGVV(TAG, "Error reading PMWCS3_REG_GET_DATA registers");
+      this->mark_failed();
+      return;
+    }
+    if (this->e25_sensor_ != nullptr) {
+      e25 = ((data[1] << 8) | data[0]) / 100.0;
+      this->e25_sensor_->publish_state(e25);
+      ESP_LOGVV(TAG, "e25: data[0]=%d, data[1]=%d, result=%f", data[0], data[1], e25);
+    }
+    if (this->ec_sensor_ != nullptr) {
+      ec = ((data[3] << 8) | data[2]) / 10.0;
+      this->ec_sensor_->publish_state(ec);
+      ESP_LOGVV(TAG, "ec: data[2]=%d, data[3]=%d, result=%f", data[2], data[3], ec);
+    }
+    if (this->temperature_sensor_ != nullptr) {
+      temperature = ((data[5] << 8) | data[4]) / 100.0;
+      this->temperature_sensor_->publish_state(temperature);
+      ESP_LOGVV(TAG, "temp: data[4]=%d, data[5]=%d, result=%f", data[4], data[5], temperature);
+    }
+    if (this->vwc_sensor_ != nullptr) {
+      vwc = ((data[7] << 8) | data[6]) / 10.0;
+      this->vwc_sensor_->publish_state(vwc);
+      ESP_LOGVV(TAG, "vwc: data[6]=%d, data[7]=%d, result=%f", data[6], data[7], vwc);
+    }
+  });
 }
 
 }  // namespace pmwcs3