diff --git a/components/esp_driver_sdmmc/include/driver/sd_host_sdmmc.h b/components/esp_driver_sdmmc/include/driver/sd_host_sdmmc.h
index c6db874fe40..6f1d9a09b45 100644
--- a/components/esp_driver_sdmmc/include/driver/sd_host_sdmmc.h
+++ b/components/esp_driver_sdmmc/include/driver/sd_host_sdmmc.h
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ typedef struct {
  * @return
  *        - ESP_OK:               On success
  *        - ESP_ERR_NO_MEM:       Out of memory
- *        - ESP_ERR_NOT_FOUND:    Controller not found
+ *        - ESP_ERR_NOT_FOUND:    No free controller
  *        - ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG:  Invalid argument
  */
 esp_err_t sd_host_create_sdmmc_controller(const sd_host_sdmmc_cfg_t *config, sd_host_ctlr_handle_t *ret_handle);
diff --git a/components/esp_driver_sdmmc/legacy/src/sdmmc_host.c b/components/esp_driver_sdmmc/legacy/src/sdmmc_host.c
index a532050003e..acb090bd709 100644
--- a/components/esp_driver_sdmmc/legacy/src/sdmmc_host.c
+++ b/components/esp_driver_sdmmc/legacy/src/sdmmc_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
  */
@@ -77,6 +77,11 @@ esp_err_t sdmmc_host_set_input_delayline(int slot, sdmmc_delay_line_t delay_line
 
 esp_err_t sdmmc_host_init(void)
 {
+    if (s_ctlr) {
+        ESP_LOGI(TAG, "SDMMC host controller already created, returning existing handle");
+        return ESP_OK;
+    }
+
     sd_host_sdmmc_cfg_t cfg = {
         .event_queue_items = SDMMC_EVENT_QUEUE_LENGTH,
     };
@@ -158,6 +163,8 @@ esp_err_t sdmmc_host_deinit_slot(int slot)
     //for backward compatibility, return ESP_OK when only slot is removed and host is still there
     if (ret == ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE) {
         ret = ESP_OK;
+    } else if (ret == ESP_OK) {
+        s_ctlr = NULL;
     }
 
     return ret;
@@ -176,6 +183,7 @@ esp_err_t sdmmc_host_deinit(void)
         }
     }
     ESP_RETURN_ON_ERROR(sd_host_del_controller(s_ctlr), TAG, "failed to delete controller");
+    s_ctlr = NULL;
 
     return ESP_OK;
 }