diff --git a/esphome/components/audio/audio.cpp b/esphome/components/audio/audio.cpp
index 40592f6107a..3d675109e49 100644
--- a/esphome/components/audio/audio.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/audio/audio.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 #include "audio.h"
 
+#include "esphome/core/helpers.h"
+
+#include <cstring>
+
 namespace esphome {
 namespace audio {
 
@@ -58,6 +62,58 @@ const char *audio_file_type_to_string(AudioFileType file_type) {
   }
 }
 
+AudioFileType detect_audio_file_type(const char *content_type, const char *url) {
+  // Try Content-Type header first
+  if (content_type != nullptr && content_type[0] != '\0') {
+#ifdef USE_AUDIO_MP3_SUPPORT
+    if (strcasecmp(content_type, "mp3") == 0 || strcasecmp(content_type, "audio/mp3") == 0 ||
+        strcasecmp(content_type, "audio/mpeg") == 0) {
+      return AudioFileType::MP3;
+    }
+#endif
+    if (strcasecmp(content_type, "audio/wav") == 0) {
+      return AudioFileType::WAV;
+    }
+#ifdef USE_AUDIO_FLAC_SUPPORT
+    if (strcasecmp(content_type, "audio/flac") == 0 || strcasecmp(content_type, "audio/x-flac") == 0) {
+      return AudioFileType::FLAC;
+    }
+#endif
+#ifdef USE_AUDIO_OPUS_SUPPORT
+    // Match "audio/ogg" with a codecs parameter containing "opus"
+    // Valid forms: audio/ogg;codecs=opus, audio/ogg; codecs="opus", etc.
+    // Plain "audio/ogg" without opus is not matched (almost always Ogg Vorbis)
+    if (strncasecmp(content_type, "audio/ogg", 9) == 0 && strcasestr(content_type + 9, "opus") != nullptr) {
+      return AudioFileType::OPUS;
+    }
+#endif
+  }
+
+  // Fallback to URL extension
+  if (url != nullptr && url[0] != '\0') {
+    if (str_endswith_ignore_case(url, ".wav")) {
+      return AudioFileType::WAV;
+    }
+#ifdef USE_AUDIO_MP3_SUPPORT
+    if (str_endswith_ignore_case(url, ".mp3")) {
+      return AudioFileType::MP3;
+    }
+#endif
+#ifdef USE_AUDIO_FLAC_SUPPORT
+    if (str_endswith_ignore_case(url, ".flac")) {
+      return AudioFileType::FLAC;
+    }
+#endif
+#ifdef USE_AUDIO_OPUS_SUPPORT
+    if (str_endswith_ignore_case(url, ".opus")) {
+      return AudioFileType::OPUS;
+    }
+#endif
+  }
+
+  return AudioFileType::NONE;
+}
+
 void scale_audio_samples(const int16_t *audio_samples, int16_t *output_buffer, int16_t scale_factor,
                          size_t samples_to_scale) {
   // Note the assembly dsps_mulc function has audio glitches if the input and output buffers are the same.
diff --git a/esphome/components/audio/audio.h b/esphome/components/audio/audio.h
index 7d7db9e9444..d3b41a362f1 100644
--- a/esphome/components/audio/audio.h
+++ b/esphome/components/audio/audio.h
@@ -130,6 +130,13 @@ struct AudioFile {
 /// @return const char pointer to the readable file type
 const char *audio_file_type_to_string(AudioFileType file_type);
 
+/// @brief Detect audio file type from a Content-Type header value and/or URL extension.
+/// Tries Content-Type first, then falls back to URL extension. Either parameter may be null.
+/// @param content_type Content-Type header value (may be null or empty)
+/// @param url URL to inspect for file extension (may be null or empty)
+/// @return The detected AudioFileType, or NONE if unknown
+AudioFileType detect_audio_file_type(const char *content_type, const char *url);
+
 /// @brief Scales Q15 fixed point audio samples. Scales in place if audio_samples == output_buffer.
 /// @param audio_samples PCM int16 audio samples
 /// @param output_buffer Buffer to store the scaled samples
diff --git a/esphome/components/audio/audio_reader.cpp b/esphome/components/audio/audio_reader.cpp
index 78d69d7a39d..79ebf58889f 100644
--- a/esphome/components/audio/audio_reader.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/audio/audio_reader.cpp
@@ -185,26 +185,8 @@ esp_err_t AudioReader::start(const std::string &uri, AudioFileType &file_type) {
       return err;
     }
 
-    if (str_endswith_ignore_case(url, ".wav")) {
-      file_type = AudioFileType::WAV;
-    }
-#ifdef USE_AUDIO_MP3_SUPPORT
-    else if (str_endswith_ignore_case(url, ".mp3")) {
-      file_type = AudioFileType::MP3;
-    }
-#endif
-#ifdef USE_AUDIO_FLAC_SUPPORT
-    else if (str_endswith_ignore_case(url, ".flac")) {
-      file_type = AudioFileType::FLAC;
-    }
-#endif
-#ifdef USE_AUDIO_OPUS_SUPPORT
-    else if (str_endswith_ignore_case(url, ".opus")) {
-      file_type = AudioFileType::OPUS;
-    }
-#endif
-    else {
-      file_type = AudioFileType::NONE;
+    file_type = detect_audio_file_type(nullptr, url);
+    if (file_type == AudioFileType::NONE) {
       this->cleanup_connection_();
       return ESP_ERR_NOT_SUPPORTED;
     }
@@ -232,32 +214,6 @@ AudioReaderState AudioReader::read() {
   return AudioReaderState::FAILED;
 }
 
-AudioFileType AudioReader::get_audio_type(const char *content_type) {
-#ifdef USE_AUDIO_MP3_SUPPORT
-  if (strcasecmp(content_type, "mp3") == 0 || strcasecmp(content_type, "audio/mp3") == 0 ||
-      strcasecmp(content_type, "audio/mpeg") == 0) {
-    return AudioFileType::MP3;
-  }
-#endif
-  if (strcasecmp(content_type, "audio/wav") == 0) {
-    return AudioFileType::WAV;
-  }
-#ifdef USE_AUDIO_FLAC_SUPPORT
-  if (strcasecmp(content_type, "audio/flac") == 0 || strcasecmp(content_type, "audio/x-flac") == 0) {
-    return AudioFileType::FLAC;
-  }
-#endif
-#ifdef USE_AUDIO_OPUS_SUPPORT
-  // Match "audio/ogg" with a codecs parameter containing "opus"
-  // Valid forms: audio/ogg;codecs=opus, audio/ogg; codecs="opus", etc.
-  // Plain "audio/ogg" without a codecs parameter is not matched, as those are almost always Ogg Vorbis streams
-  if (strncasecmp(content_type, "audio/ogg", 9) == 0 && strcasestr(content_type + 9, "opus") != nullptr) {
-    return AudioFileType::OPUS;
-  }
-#endif
-  return AudioFileType::NONE;
-}
-
 esp_err_t AudioReader::http_event_handler(esp_http_client_event_t *evt) {
   // Based on https://github.com/maroc81/WeatherLily/tree/main/main/net accessed 20241224
   AudioReader *this_reader = (AudioReader *) evt->user_data;
@@ -265,7 +221,7 @@ esp_err_t AudioReader::http_event_handler(esp_http_client_event_t *evt) {
   switch (evt->event_id) {
     case HTTP_EVENT_ON_HEADER:
       if (strcasecmp(evt->header_key, "Content-Type") == 0) {
-        this_reader->audio_file_type_ = get_audio_type(evt->header_value);
+        this_reader->audio_file_type_ = detect_audio_file_type(evt->header_value, nullptr);
       }
       break;
     default:
diff --git a/esphome/components/audio/audio_reader.h b/esphome/components/audio/audio_reader.h
index 0b73923e840..753b310213e 100644
--- a/esphome/components/audio/audio_reader.h
+++ b/esphome/components/audio/audio_reader.h
@@ -58,11 +58,6 @@ class AudioReader {
   /// @brief Monitors the http client events to attempt determining the file type from the Content-Type header
   static esp_err_t http_event_handler(esp_http_client_event_t *evt);
 
-  /// @brief Determines the audio file type from the http header's Content-Type key
-  /// @param content_type string with the Content-Type key
-  /// @return AudioFileType of the url, if it can be determined. If not, return AudioFileType::NONE.
-  static AudioFileType get_audio_type(const char *content_type);
-
   AudioReaderState file_read_();
   AudioReaderState http_read_();