diff --git a/components/esp_websocket_client/esp_websocket_client.c b/components/esp_websocket_client/esp_websocket_client.c
index 5ad2e11b2c..98f50eec15 100644
--- a/components/esp_websocket_client/esp_websocket_client.c
+++ b/components/esp_websocket_client/esp_websocket_client.c
@@ -990,7 +990,11 @@ static esp_err_t esp_websocket_client_recv(esp_websocket_client_handle_t client)
             return ESP_OK;
         }
 
-        esp_websocket_client_dispatch_event(client, WEBSOCKET_EVENT_DATA, client->rx_buffer, rlen);
+        if (client->last_opcode == WS_TRANSPORT_OPCODES_PONG) {
+            esp_websocket_client_dispatch_event(client, WEBSOCKET_EVENT_PONG, client->rx_buffer, rlen);
+        } else {
+            esp_websocket_client_dispatch_event(client, WEBSOCKET_EVENT_DATA, client->rx_buffer, rlen);
+        }
 
         client->payload_offset += rlen;
     } while (client->payload_offset < client->payload_len);
diff --git a/components/esp_websocket_client/examples/linux/main/websocket_linux.c b/components/esp_websocket_client/examples/linux/main/websocket_linux.c
index 3329274fbc..ea44597025 100644
--- a/components/esp_websocket_client/examples/linux/main/websocket_linux.c
+++ b/components/esp_websocket_client/examples/linux/main/websocket_linux.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ static void websocket_event_handler(void *handler_args, esp_event_base_t base, i
         break;
     case WEBSOCKET_EVENT_CONNECTED:
         ESP_LOGI(TAG, "WEBSOCKET_EVENT_CONNECTED");
+        esp_websocket_client_send_with_opcode((esp_websocket_client_handle_t)handler_args, WS_TRANSPORT_OPCODES_PING, NULL, 0, portMAX_DELAY);
         break;
     case WEBSOCKET_EVENT_DISCONNECTED:
         ESP_LOGI(TAG, "WEBSOCKET_EVENT_DISCONNECTED");
@@ -52,6 +53,9 @@ static void websocket_event_handler(void *handler_args, esp_event_base_t base, i
         // If received data contains json structure it succeed to parse
         ESP_LOGW(TAG, "Total payload length=%d, data_len=%d, current payload offset=%d\r\n", data->payload_len, data->data_len, data->payload_offset);
 
+        break;
+    case WEBSOCKET_EVENT_PONG:
+        ESP_LOGI(TAG, "WEBSOCKET_EVENT_PONG (op=%d, len=%d)", data->op_code, data->data_len);
         break;
     case WEBSOCKET_EVENT_ERROR:
         ESP_LOGI(TAG, "WEBSOCKET_EVENT_ERROR");
diff --git a/components/esp_websocket_client/examples/target/main/websocket_example.c b/components/esp_websocket_client/examples/target/main/websocket_example.c
index 31998527b5..e4e9d2b8d1 100644
--- a/components/esp_websocket_client/examples/target/main/websocket_example.c
+++ b/components/esp_websocket_client/examples/target/main/websocket_example.c
@@ -79,6 +79,8 @@ static void websocket_event_handler(void *handler_args, esp_event_base_t base, i
         break;
     case WEBSOCKET_EVENT_CONNECTED:
         ESP_LOGI(TAG, "WEBSOCKET_EVENT_CONNECTED");
+        // Optional: Send ping to keep the connection alive.
+        esp_websocket_client_send_with_opcode((esp_websocket_client_handle_t)handler_args, WS_TRANSPORT_OPCODES_PING, NULL, 0, portMAX_DELAY);
         break;
     case WEBSOCKET_EVENT_DISCONNECTED:
         ESP_LOGI(TAG, "WEBSOCKET_EVENT_DISCONNECTED");
@@ -116,6 +118,9 @@ static void websocket_event_handler(void *handler_args, esp_event_base_t base, i
 
         xTimerReset(shutdown_signal_timer, portMAX_DELAY);
         break;
+    case WEBSOCKET_EVENT_PONG:
+        ESP_LOGI(TAG, "WEBSOCKET_EVENT_PONG");
+        break;
     case WEBSOCKET_EVENT_ERROR:
         ESP_LOGI(TAG, "WEBSOCKET_EVENT_ERROR");
         log_error_if_nonzero("HTTP status code",  data->error_handle.esp_ws_handshake_status_code);
diff --git a/components/esp_websocket_client/examples/target/pytest_websocket.py b/components/esp_websocket_client/examples/target/pytest_websocket.py
index dd59384d44..d1b91e7d91 100644
--- a/components/esp_websocket_client/examples/target/pytest_websocket.py
+++ b/components/esp_websocket_client/examples/target/pytest_websocket.py
@@ -89,11 +89,23 @@ def test_examples_protocol_websocket(dut):
       3. send and receive data
     """
 
+    # Test for connection:
+    # Verifies that the WebSocket client correctly connected.
+    def test_connected(dut):
+        dut.expect('WEBSOCKET_EVENT_CONNECTED')
+        print('Received CONNECTED')
+
+    # Test for PONG functionality:
+    # Verifies that the WebSocket client correctly receives a PONG response after sending a PING.
+    # The PING is automatically sent when the connection is established.
+    def test_pong(dut):
+        dut.expect('WEBSOCKET_EVENT_PONG')
+        print('Received PONG')
+
     # Test for echo functionality:
     # Sends a series of simple "hello" messages to the WebSocket server and verifies that each one is echoed back correctly.
     # This tests the basic responsiveness and correctness of the WebSocket connection.
     def test_echo(dut):
-        dut.expect('WEBSOCKET_EVENT_CONNECTED')
         for i in range(0, 5):
             dut.expect(re.compile(b'Received=hello (\\d)'))
         print('All echos received')
@@ -236,6 +248,8 @@ def test_fragmented_binary_msg(dut):
             print('DUT connecting to {}'.format(uri))
             dut.expect('Please enter uri of websocket endpoint', timeout=30)
             dut.write(uri)
+            test_connected(dut)
+            test_pong(dut)
             test_echo(dut)
             test_recv_long_msg(dut, ws, 2000, 3)
             test_json(dut, ws)
@@ -246,4 +260,6 @@ def test_fragmented_binary_msg(dut):
             test_close(dut)
     else:
         print('DUT connecting to {}'.format(uri))
+        test_connected(dut)
+        test_pong(dut)
         test_echo(dut)
diff --git a/components/esp_websocket_client/include/esp_websocket_client.h b/components/esp_websocket_client/include/esp_websocket_client.h
index c125a6e350..ac1e0c0ff4 100644
--- a/components/esp_websocket_client/include/esp_websocket_client.h
+++ b/components/esp_websocket_client/include/esp_websocket_client.h
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ typedef enum {
     WEBSOCKET_EVENT_CONNECTED,      /*!< Once the Websocket has been connected to the server, no data exchange has been performed */
     WEBSOCKET_EVENT_DISCONNECTED,   /*!< The connection has been disconnected */
     WEBSOCKET_EVENT_DATA,           /*!< When receiving data from the server, possibly multiple portions of the packet */
+    WEBSOCKET_EVENT_PONG,           /*!< When receiving a PONG control frame from the server, Pong events might carry payload when present. */
     WEBSOCKET_EVENT_CLOSED,         /*!< The connection has been closed cleanly */
     WEBSOCKET_EVENT_BEFORE_CONNECT, /*!< The event occurs before connecting */
     WEBSOCKET_EVENT_BEGIN,          /*!< The event occurs once after thread creation, before event loop */