diff --git a/esphome/components/ili9xxx/ili9xxx_defines.h b/esphome/components/ili9xxx/ili9xxx_defines.h
index f4c5aad957..70e0937f79 100644
--- a/esphome/components/ili9xxx/ili9xxx_defines.h
+++ b/esphome/components/ili9xxx/ili9xxx_defines.h
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #pragma once
 
+#include <cstdint>
+
 namespace esphome {
 namespace ili9xxx {
 
diff --git a/esphome/components/ili9xxx/ili9xxx_display.cpp b/esphome/components/ili9xxx/ili9xxx_display.cpp
index a3eff901d3..11acb8a73a 100644
--- a/esphome/components/ili9xxx/ili9xxx_display.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/ili9xxx/ili9xxx_display.cpp
@@ -229,6 +229,10 @@ void ILI9XXXDisplay::update() {
 }
 
 void ILI9XXXDisplay::display_() {
+  // buffer may be null if allocation failed
+  if (this->buffer_ == nullptr) {
+    return;
+  }
   // check if something was displayed
   if ((this->x_high_ < this->x_low_) || (this->y_high_ < this->y_low_)) {
     return;