diff --git a/components/tcp_transport/transport_ws.c b/components/tcp_transport/transport_ws.c
index 4d9b7435ac8b..2d7bdf11564d 100644
--- a/components/tcp_transport/transport_ws.c
+++ b/components/tcp_transport/transport_ws.c
@@ -131,6 +131,34 @@ static int esp_transport_read_internal(transport_ws_t *ws, char *buffer, int len
     return to_read;
 }
 
+static int esp_transport_read_exact_size(transport_ws_t *ws, char *buffer, int requested_len, int timeout_ms)
+{
+    int total_read = 0;
+    int len = requested_len;
+
+    while (len > 0) {
+        int bytes_read = esp_transport_read_internal(ws, buffer, len, timeout_ms);
+
+        if (bytes_read < 0) {
+            return bytes_read; // Return error from the underlying read
+        }
+
+        if (bytes_read == 0) {
+            // If we read 0 bytes, we return an error, since reading exact number of bytes resulted in a timeout operation
+            ESP_LOGW(TAG, "Requested to read %d, actually read %d bytes", requested_len, total_read);
+            return -1;
+        }
+
+        // Update buffer and remaining length
+        buffer += bytes_read;
+        len -= bytes_read;
+        total_read += bytes_read;
+
+        ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Read fragment of %d bytes", bytes_read);
+    }
+    return total_read;
+}
+
 static char *trimwhitespace(char *str)
 {
     char *end;
@@ -484,7 +512,7 @@ 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_internal(ws, data_ptr, header, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
+    if ((rlen = esp_transport_read_exact_size(ws, data_ptr, header, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
         ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Error read data");
         return rlen;
     }
@@ -498,7 +526,7 @@ 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_internal(ws, data_ptr, header, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
+        if ((rlen = esp_transport_read_exact_size(ws, data_ptr, header, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
             ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Error read data");
             return rlen;
         }
@@ -506,7 +534,7 @@ 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_internal(ws, data_ptr, header, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
+        if ((rlen = esp_transport_read_exact_size(ws, data_ptr, header, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
             ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Error read data");
             return rlen;
         }
@@ -521,7 +549,7 @@ 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_internal(ws, buffer, mask_len, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
+        if (payload_len != 0 && (rlen = esp_transport_read_exact_size(ws, buffer, mask_len, timeout_ms)) <= 0) {
             ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Error read data");
             return rlen;
         }