diff --git a/wled00/wled.cpp b/wled00/wled.cpp
index b40289be21..2f3755b359 100644
--- a/wled00/wled.cpp
+++ b/wled00/wled.cpp
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@
 #include "soc/rtc_cntl_reg.h"
 #endif
 
+#ifdef ARDUINO_ARCH_ESP32
+#include <esp_ota_ops.h>
+#endif
+
 extern "C" void usePWMFixedNMI();
 
 /*
@@ -361,6 +365,26 @@ void WLED::setup()
   DEBUG_PRINTF_P(PSTR("---WLED %s %u INIT---\n"), versionString, VERSION);
   DEBUG_PRINTLN();
 #ifdef ARDUINO_ARCH_ESP32
+  // Mark OTA app as valid IMMEDIATELY to prevent automatic rollback by ESP-IDF bootloader
+  // This MUST happen as early as possible, before any potential crashes
+  // Critical for OTA updates from 0.15 to 0.16+ on ESP32-C3 and other ESP32 variants
+  const esp_partition_t* running = esp_ota_get_running_partition();
+  esp_ota_img_states_t ota_state;
+  if (esp_ota_get_state_partition(running, &ota_state) == ESP_OK) {
+    if (ota_state == ESP_OTA_IMG_PENDING_VERIFY) {
+      DEBUG_PRINTLN(F("*** OTA UPDATE DETECTED - Marking app as valid to prevent rollback ***"));
+      if (esp_ota_mark_app_valid_cancel_rollback() == ESP_OK) {
+        DEBUG_PRINTLN(F("OTA app marked valid successfully"));
+      } else {
+        DEBUG_PRINTLN(F("WARNING: Failed to mark OTA app as valid!"));
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  
+  // Check IDF version for compatibility warnings
+  const char* idf_ver = esp_get_idf_version();
+  DEBUG_PRINTF_P(PSTR("ESP-IDF version: %s\n"), idf_ver);
+  
   DEBUG_PRINTF_P(PSTR("esp32 %s\n"), ESP.getSdkVersion());
   #if defined(ESP_ARDUINO_VERSION)
     DEBUG_PRINTF_P(PSTR("arduino-esp32 v%d.%d.%d\n"), int(ESP_ARDUINO_VERSION_MAJOR), int(ESP_ARDUINO_VERSION_MINOR), int(ESP_ARDUINO_VERSION_PATCH));  // available since v2.0.0