diff --git a/components/tcp_transport/transport_ws.c b/components/tcp_transport/transport_ws.c
index 29b156fd11..75cea86104 100644
--- a/components/tcp_transport/transport_ws.c
+++ b/components/tcp_transport/transport_ws.c
@@ -52,11 +52,12 @@ typedef struct {
 
 typedef struct {
     char *path;
-    char *buffer;
     char *sub_protocol;
     char *user_agent;
     char *headers;
     char *auth;
+    char *buffer;             /*!< Initial HTTP connection buffer, which may include data beyond the handshake headers, such as the next WebSocket packet*/
+    size_t buffer_len;        /*!< The buffer length */
     int http_status_code;
     bool propagate_control_frames;
     ws_transport_frame_state_t frame_state;
@@ -101,6 +102,35 @@ static esp_transport_handle_t ws_get_payload_transport_handle(esp_transport_hand
     return ws->parent;
 }
 
+static int esp_transport_read_internal(transport_ws_t *ws, char *buffer, int len, int timeout_ms)
+{
+    // No buffered data to read from, directly attempt to read from the transport.
+    if (ws->buffer_len == 0) {
+        return esp_transport_read(ws->parent, buffer, len, timeout_ms);
+    }
+
+    // At this point, buffer_len is guaranteed to be > 0.
+    int to_read = (ws->buffer_len >= len) ? len : ws->buffer_len;
+
+    // Copy the available or requested data to the buffer.
+    memcpy(buffer, ws->buffer, to_read);
+
+    if (to_read < ws->buffer_len) {
+        // Shift remaining data if not all was read.
+        memmove(ws->buffer, ws->buffer + to_read, ws->buffer_len - to_read);
+        ws->buffer_len -= to_read;
+    } else {
+        // All buffer data was consumed.
+#ifdef CONFIG_WS_DYNAMIC_BUFFER
+        free(ws->buffer);
+        ws->buffer = NULL;
+#endif
+        ws->buffer_len = 0;
+    }
+
+    return to_read;
+}
+
 static char *trimwhitespace(const char *str)
 {
     char *end;
@@ -164,6 +194,8 @@ static char *get_http_header(const char *buffer, const char *key)
 static int ws_connect(esp_transport_handle_t t, const char *host, int port, int timeout_ms)
 {
     transport_ws_t *ws = esp_transport_get_context_data(t);
+    const char delimiter[] = "\r\n\r\n";
+
     if (esp_transport_connect(ws->parent, host, port, timeout_ms) < 0) {
         ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Error connecting to host %s:%d", host, port);
         return -1;
@@ -256,9 +288,12 @@ static int ws_connect(esp_transport_handle_t t, const char *host, int port, int
             return -1;
         }
         header_len += len;
-        ws->buffer[header_len] = '\0';
+        ws->buffer_len = header_len;
+        ws->buffer[header_len] = '\0'; // We will mark the end of the header to ensure that strstr operations for parsing the headers don't fail.
         ESP_LOGD(TAG, "Read header chunk %d, current header size: %d", len, header_len);
-    } while (NULL == strstr(ws->buffer, "\r\n\r\n") && header_len < WS_BUFFER_SIZE);
+    } while (NULL == strstr(ws->buffer, delimiter) && header_len < WS_BUFFER_SIZE);
+
+    char* delim_ptr = strstr(ws->buffer, delimiter);
 
     ws->http_status_code = get_http_status_code(ws->buffer);
     if (ws->http_status_code == -1) {
@@ -272,6 +307,20 @@ static int ws_connect(esp_transport_handle_t t, const char *host, int port, int
         return -1;
     }
 
+    if (delim_ptr != NULL) {
+        size_t delim_pos = delim_ptr - ws->buffer + sizeof(delimiter) - 1;
+        size_t remaining_len = ws->buffer_len - delim_pos;
+        if (remaining_len > 0) {
+            memmove(ws->buffer, ws->buffer + delim_pos, remaining_len);
+            ws->buffer_len = remaining_len;
+        } else {
+#ifdef CONFIG_WS_DYNAMIC_BUFFER
+            free(ws->buffer);
+            ws->buffer = NULL;
+#endif
+            ws->buffer_len = 0;
+        }
+    }
     // See esp_crypto_sha1() arg size
     unsigned char expected_server_sha1[20];
     // Size of base64 coded string see above
@@ -291,10 +340,6 @@ static int ws_connect(esp_transport_handle_t t, const char *host, int port, int
         ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Invalid websocket key");
         return -1;
     }
-#ifdef CONFIG_WS_DYNAMIC_BUFFER
-    free(ws->buffer);
-    ws->buffer = NULL;
-#endif
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -406,7 +451,7 @@ static int ws_read_payload(esp_transport_handle_t t, char *buffer, int len, int
     }
 
     // Receive and process payload
-    if (bytes_to_read != 0 && (rlen = esp_transport_read(ws->parent, buffer, bytes_to_read, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
+    if (bytes_to_read != 0 && (rlen = esp_transport_read_internal(ws, buffer, bytes_to_read, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
         ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Error read data");
         return rlen;
     }
@@ -437,7 +482,7 @@ static int ws_read_header(esp_transport_handle_t t, char *buffer, int len, int t
     // Receive and process header first (based on header size)
     int header = 2;
     int mask_len = 4;
-    if ((rlen = esp_transport_read(ws->parent, data_ptr, header, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
+    if ((rlen = esp_transport_read_internal(ws, data_ptr, header, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
         ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Error read data");
         return rlen;
     }
@@ -451,7 +496,7 @@ static int ws_read_header(esp_transport_handle_t t, char *buffer, int len, int t
     ESP_LOGD(TAG, "Opcode: %d, mask: %d, len: %d", ws->frame_state.opcode, mask, payload_len);
     if (payload_len == 126) {
         // headerLen += 2;
-        if ((rlen = esp_transport_read(ws->parent, data_ptr, header, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
+        if ((rlen = esp_transport_read_internal(ws, data_ptr, header, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
             ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Error read data");
             return rlen;
         }
@@ -459,7 +504,7 @@ static int ws_read_header(esp_transport_handle_t t, char *buffer, int len, int t
     } else if (payload_len == 127) {
         // headerLen += 8;
         header = 8;
-        if ((rlen = esp_transport_read(ws->parent, data_ptr, header, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
+        if ((rlen = esp_transport_read_internal(ws, data_ptr, header, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
             ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Error read data");
             return rlen;
         }
@@ -474,7 +519,7 @@ static int ws_read_header(esp_transport_handle_t t, char *buffer, int len, int t
 
     if (mask) {
         // Read and store mask
-        if (payload_len != 0 && (rlen = esp_transport_read(ws->parent, buffer, mask_len, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
+        if (payload_len != 0 && (rlen = esp_transport_read_internal(ws, buffer, mask_len, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
             ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Error read data");
             return rlen;
         }