diff --git a/esphome/codegen.py b/esphome/codegen.py
index a3a199290f..dd5e953f18 100644
--- a/esphome/codegen.py
+++ b/esphome/codegen.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ from esphome.cpp_generator import (  # noqa
     get_variable,
     get_variable_with_full_id,
     process_lambda,
-    set_cpp_version,
+    set_cpp_standard,
     is_template,
     templatable,
     MockObj,
diff --git a/esphome/components/esp32/__init__.py b/esphome/components/esp32/__init__.py
index 3b793719a1..5656b7b5c8 100644
--- a/esphome/components/esp32/__init__.py
+++ b/esphome/components/esp32/__init__.py
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ CONFIG_SCHEMA = cv.All(
 
 async def to_code(config):
     cg.add_platformio_option("board", config[CONF_BOARD])
-    cg.set_cpp_version("gnu++17")
+    cg.set_cpp_standard("gnu++17")
     cg.add_build_flag("-DUSE_ESP32")
     cg.add_define("ESPHOME_BOARD", config[CONF_BOARD])
     cg.add_build_flag(f"-DUSE_ESP32_VARIANT_{config[CONF_VARIANT]}")
diff --git a/esphome/cpp_generator.py b/esphome/cpp_generator.py
index 84eb874a84..f42ff3105e 100644
--- a/esphome/cpp_generator.py
+++ b/esphome/cpp_generator.py
@@ -610,10 +610,10 @@ def add_build_unflag(build_unflag: str):
     CORE.add_build_unflag(build_unflag)
 
 
-def set_cpp_version(version: str):
-    """Set C++ version via compiler flag `-std={version}`."""
+def set_cpp_standard(standard: str):
+    """Set C++ standard with compiler flag `-std={standard}`."""
     CORE.add_build_unflag("-std=gnu++11")
-    CORE.add_build_flag(f"-std={version}")
+    CORE.add_build_flag(f"-std={standard}")
 
 
 def add_define(name: str, value: SafeExpType = None):