diff --git a/esphome/components/online_image/image_decoder.h b/esphome/components/online_image/image_decoder.h
index cde7f572e3..7c5175d72d 100644
--- a/esphome/components/online_image/image_decoder.h
+++ b/esphome/components/online_image/image_decoder.h
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ class DownloadBuffer {
   void reset() { this->unread_ = 0; }
 
  protected:
-  ExternalRAMAllocator<uint8_t> allocator_;
+  RAMAllocator<uint8_t> allocator_{};
   uint8_t *buffer_;
   size_t size_;
   /** Total number of downloaded bytes not yet read. */
diff --git a/esphome/components/online_image/online_image.h b/esphome/components/online_image/online_image.h
index e044b4f390..bafd8ba67e 100644
--- a/esphome/components/online_image/online_image.h
+++ b/esphome/components/online_image/online_image.h
@@ -83,8 +83,7 @@ class OnlineImage : public PollingComponent,
  protected:
   bool validate_url_(const std::string &url);
 
-  using Allocator = ExternalRAMAllocator<uint8_t>;
-  Allocator allocator_{Allocator::Flags::ALLOW_FAILURE};
+  RAMAllocator<uint8_t> allocator_{};
 
   uint32_t get_buffer_size_() const { return get_buffer_size_(this->buffer_width_, this->buffer_height_); }
   int get_buffer_size_(int width, int height) const { return (this->get_bpp() * width + 7u) / 8u * height; }