diff --git a/esphome/components/http_request/http_request_idf.cpp b/esphome/components/http_request/http_request_idf.cpp
index 138e0438f4..d6fac7a133 100644
--- a/esphome/components/http_request/http_request_idf.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/http_request/http_request_idf.cpp
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ std::shared_ptr<HttpContainer> HttpRequestIDF::start(std::string url, std::strin
     int write_left = body_len;
     int write_index = 0;
     const char *buf = body.c_str();
-    while (body_len > 0) {
+    while (write_left > 0) {
       int written = esp_http_client_write(client, buf + write_index, write_left);
       if (written < 0) {
         err = ESP_FAIL;