diff --git a/esphome/components/uart/uart_component_esp_idf.cpp b/esphome/components/uart/uart_component_esp_idf.cpp
index af6aa57462..b1f15f7d21 100644
--- a/esphome/components/uart/uart_component_esp_idf.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/uart/uart_component_esp_idf.cpp
@@ -200,19 +200,23 @@ void IDFUARTComponent::dump_config() {
 }
 
 void IDFUARTComponent::set_rx_full_threshold(size_t rx_full_threshold) {
-  esp_err_t err = uart_set_rx_full_threshold(this->uart_num_, rx_full_threshold);
-  if (err != ESP_OK) {
-    ESP_LOGW(TAG, "uart_set_rx_full_threshold failed: %s", esp_err_to_name(err));
-    return;
+  if (this->is_ready()) {
+    esp_err_t err = uart_set_rx_full_threshold(this->uart_num_, rx_full_threshold);
+    if (err != ESP_OK) {
+      ESP_LOGW(TAG, "uart_set_rx_full_threshold failed: %s", esp_err_to_name(err));
+      return;
+    }
   }
   this->rx_full_threshold_ = rx_full_threshold;
 }
 
 void IDFUARTComponent::set_rx_timeout(size_t rx_timeout) {
-  esp_err_t err = uart_set_rx_timeout(this->uart_num_, rx_timeout);
-  if (err != ESP_OK) {
-    ESP_LOGW(TAG, "uart_set_rx_timeout failed: %s", esp_err_to_name(err));
-    return;
+  if (this->is_ready()) {
+    esp_err_t err = uart_set_rx_timeout(this->uart_num_, rx_timeout);
+    if (err != ESP_OK) {
+      ESP_LOGW(TAG, "uart_set_rx_timeout failed: %s", esp_err_to_name(err));
+      return;
+    }
   }
   this->rx_timeout_ = rx_timeout;
 }