diff --git a/esphome/components/ain4_20ma/ain4_20ma.cpp b/esphome/components/ain4_20ma/ain4_20ma.cpp
index 106001adf4..6835eed808 100644
--- a/esphome/components/ain4_20ma/ain4_20ma.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/ain4_20ma/ain4_20ma.cpp
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ void Ain4_20maComponent::dump_config() {
 void Ain4_20maComponent::update() {
   uint8_t data[2];
 
-  i2c::ErrorCode err = this->read_register(0x20, &current, 2, true);
+  i2c::ErrorCode err = this->read_register(0x20, &data, 2, true);
   if (err != i2c::ERROR_OK) {
     ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Error reading data from AIN4-20mA");
     this->publish_state(NAN);