diff --git a/components/bt/controller/esp32c3/Kconfig.in b/components/bt/controller/esp32c3/Kconfig.in
index 6f6c4d549c8..cd6c59fd3bf 100644
--- a/components/bt/controller/esp32c3/Kconfig.in
+++ b/components/bt/controller/esp32c3/Kconfig.in
@@ -2,6 +2,15 @@ config BT_CTRL_MODE_EFF
     int
     default 1
 
+config BT_CTRL_CHECK_CONFIG_EFF
+    int
+    default 1
+    help
+        Marker that controller Kconfig is active (always set in sdkconfig).
+        Must not be unset in normal IDF builds. Controller-only integrations
+        that do not export this symbol rely on esp_bt.h to apply compile-time
+        defaults for missing BLE feature CONFIG_* names.
+
 config BT_CTRL_BLE_MAX_ACT
     int "BLE Max Instances"
     default 6
diff --git a/components/bt/controller/esp32c3/bt.c b/components/bt/controller/esp32c3/bt.c
index 32de734522b..3cd8a140569 100644
--- a/components/bt/controller/esp32c3/bt.c
+++ b/components/bt/controller/esp32c3/bt.c
@@ -1866,6 +1866,11 @@ esp_err_t esp_bt_controller_init(esp_bt_controller_config_t *cfg)
 
     ESP_LOGI(BT_LOG_TAG, "BT controller compile version [%s]", btdm_controller_get_compile_version());
 
+#ifndef CONFIG_BT_CTRL_CHECK_CONFIG_EFF
+    ESP_LOGW(BT_LOG_TAG, "CONFIG_BT_CTRL_CHECK_CONFIG_EFF is not defined; "
+             "using compile-time default BLE controller feature options");
+#endif
+
 #if (CONFIG_BT_CTRL_RUN_IN_FLASH_ONLY)
     ESP_LOGI(BT_LOG_TAG,"Put all controller code in flash");
 #endif
diff --git a/components/bt/include/esp32c3/include/esp_bt.h b/components/bt/include/esp32c3/include/esp_bt.h
index c997e2bf666..6dfb46d83ba 100644
--- a/components/bt/include/esp32c3/include/esp_bt.h
+++ b/components/bt/include/esp32c3/include/esp_bt.h
@@ -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
  */
@@ -268,7 +268,21 @@ typedef void (* esp_bt_hci_tl_callback_t) (void *arg, uint8_t status);
 #define BT_CTRL_RUN_IN_FLASH_ONLY  (0)
 #endif
 
-
+/*
+ * Only when CONFIG_BT_CTRL_CHECK_CONFIG_EFF is absent: this build does not
+ * run controller Kconfig, so missing CONFIG_BT_CTRL_BLE_* means "use default",
+ * not "disabled". When the symbol is defined (normal IDF sdkconfig), Kconfig
+ * is authoritative: bool=n leaves CONFIG_BT_CTRL_BLE_* undefined and must
+ * not be overridden here.
+ */
+#ifndef CONFIG_BT_CTRL_CHECK_CONFIG_EFF
+#define CONFIG_BT_CTRL_BLE_ADV 1
+#define CONFIG_BT_CTRL_BLE_SCAN 1
+#define CONFIG_BT_CTRL_DTM_ENABLE 1
+#define CONFIG_BT_CTRL_BLE_MASTER 1
+#define CONFIG_BT_CTRL_BLE_SECURITY_ENABLE 1
+#define CONFIG_BT_CTRL_BLE_MIN_CONN_INTERVAL_ENABLE 1
+#endif /* !CONFIG_BT_CTRL_CHECK_CONFIG_EFF */
 
 #if defined(CONFIG_BT_CTRL_DTM_ENABLE)
 #define BT_CTRL_DTM_ENABLE  CONFIG_BT_CTRL_DTM_ENABLE