diff --git a/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_client.cpp b/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_client.cpp
index 157504fb41..aa0cf56c51 100644
--- a/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_client.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/mqtt/mqtt_client.cpp
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ void MQTTClientComponent::start_connect_() {
 
   this->mqtt_backend_.set_credentials(username, password);
 
-  this->mqtt_backend_.set_server((uint32_t) this->ip_, this->credentials_.port);
+  this->mqtt_backend_.set_server(this->credentials_.address.c_str(), this->credentials_.port);
   if (!this->last_will_.topic.empty()) {
     this->mqtt_backend_.set_will(this->last_will_.topic.c_str(), this->last_will_.qos, this->last_will_.retain,
                                  this->last_will_.payload.c_str());