diff --git a/components/esp_driver_sdmmc/test_apps/sd_test_utils/components/common_test_flows/sdmmc_test_rw_common.c b/components/esp_driver_sdmmc/test_apps/sd_test_utils/components/common_test_flows/sdmmc_test_rw_common.c
index 32ffd704725..df331a6db97 100644
--- a/components/esp_driver_sdmmc/test_apps/sd_test_utils/components/common_test_flows/sdmmc_test_rw_common.c
+++ b/components/esp_driver_sdmmc/test_apps/sd_test_utils/components/common_test_flows/sdmmc_test_rw_common.c
@@ -352,6 +352,38 @@ void sdmmc_test_rw_psram_buffer(sdmmc_card_t *card)
     TEST_ESP_OK(sdmmc_read_sectors(card, psram_buf, 0, block_count));
     check_buffer(seed_c, psram_buf, buffer_size / sizeof(uint32_t));
 
+    /* Test D: Write from a PSRAM buffer that is NOT cache/DMA aligned.
+     *
+     * The host (or the underlying SPI master) must transparently handle the
+     * unaligned PSRAM source - either by an internal aligned copy or by direct
+     * DMA when the hardware supports it. This exercises the fallback path of the
+     * SDSPI write transfer, which no longer copies the buffer itself but relies
+     * on the SPI master to accept PSRAM buffers (SPI_TRANS_DMA_USE_PSRAM). The
+     * data read back must still match.
+     *
+     * NOTE: this sub-test requires real SD-card + PSRAM hardware to be meaningful.
+     */
+    {
+        const size_t misalign = 1; /* 1-byte offset breaks 4-byte/cache alignment */
+        uint8_t *unaligned_psram = heap_caps_malloc(buffer_size + misalign,
+                                                    MALLOC_CAP_SPIRAM | MALLOC_CAP_DMA);
+        TEST_ASSERT_NOT_NULL_MESSAGE(unaligned_psram, "Failed to allocate PSRAM buffer");
+        uint8_t *src = unaligned_psram + misalign;
+        TEST_ASSERT_MESSAGE(esp_ptr_external_ram(src), "Buffer not in PSRAM");
+
+        const uint32_t seed_d = 0x13572468;
+        for (size_t i = 0; i < buffer_size; i++) {
+            src[i] = (uint8_t)(seed_d + i);
+        }
+        TEST_ESP_OK(sdmmc_write_sectors(card, src, 0, block_count));
+        memset(internal_buf, 0xcc, buffer_size);
+        TEST_ESP_OK(sdmmc_read_sectors(card, internal_buf, 0, block_count));
+        for (size_t i = 0; i < buffer_size; i++) {
+            TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL_HEX8((uint8_t)(seed_d + i), internal_buf[i]);
+        }
+        free(unaligned_psram);
+    }
+
     free(psram_buf);
     free(internal_buf);
     printf("PSRAM buffer R/W test passed\n");
diff --git a/components/esp_driver_sdspi/src/sdspi_host.c b/components/esp_driver_sdspi/src/sdspi_host.c
index 99c2a0b5b5e..b8e914f3af6 100644
--- a/components/esp_driver_sdspi/src/sdspi_host.c
+++ b/components/esp_driver_sdspi/src/sdspi_host.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2015-2025 Espressif Systems (Shanghai) CO LTD
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2015-2026 Espressif Systems (Shanghai) CO LTD
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 #include "esp_timer.h"
 #include "freertos/FreeRTOS.h"
 #include "freertos/semphr.h"
-#include "soc/soc_memory_layout.h"
 #include "esp_private/esp_cache_private.h"
 
 /// Max number of transactions in flight (used in start_command_write_blocks)
@@ -931,22 +930,17 @@ static esp_err_t start_command_write_blocks(slot_info_t *slot, sdspi_hw_cmd_t *c
 
         // Prepare data to be sent
         size_t will_send = MIN(tx_length, SDSPI_MAX_DATA_LEN);
-        const uint8_t* tx_data = data;
-        if (!esp_ptr_in_dram(tx_data)) {
-            // If the pointer can't be used with DMA, copy data into a new buffer
-            uint8_t* tmp;
-            ret = get_block_buf(slot, &tmp);
-            if (ret != ESP_OK) {
-                return ret;
-            }
-            memcpy(tmp, tx_data, will_send);
-            tx_data = tmp;
-        }
 
-        // Write data
+        // Write data. The SPI master driver handles buffers that are not
+        // directly DMA-usable (e.g. PSRAM, or unaligned): with
+        // SPI_TRANS_DMA_USE_PSRAM it transfers a suitable PSRAM buffer directly
+        // (no copy), and otherwise falls back to an internal aligned buffer
+        // itself. This avoids the redundant copy the SDSPI driver used to do.
+        // The flag is ignored for buffers that are not in PSRAM.
         spi_transaction_t t_data = {
             .length = will_send * 8,
-            .tx_buffer = tx_data,
+            .tx_buffer = data,
+            .flags = SPI_TRANS_DMA_USE_PSRAM,
         };
         ret = spi_device_transmit(slot->spi_handle, &t_data);
         if (ret != ESP_OK) {