diff --git a/arch/xtensa/src/esp32s3/Kconfig b/arch/xtensa/src/esp32s3/Kconfig
index e70abbe56ff57..08e0428bff6db 100644
--- a/arch/xtensa/src/esp32s3/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/xtensa/src/esp32s3/Kconfig
@@ -1102,6 +1102,7 @@ config ESP32S3_SPIRAM_USER_HEAP
 	depends on SCHED_LPWORK
 	select ESP32S3_SPI_FLASH_SUPPORT_PSRAM_STACK if ESP32S3_SPIFLASH
 	select MM_KERNEL_HEAP
+	select ESP32S3_DONT_USE_ROM_LIBC
 
 endchoice # ESP32S3_SPIRAM_HEAP
 
@@ -1110,6 +1111,16 @@ config ESP32S3_RTC_HEAP
 	select ARCH_HAVE_EXTRA_HEAPS
 	default n
 
+config ESP32S3_DONT_USE_ROM_LIBC
+	bool "Don't use ROM libc functions"
+	default n
+	---help---
+		If enabled, NuttX libc will be used instead of ROM newlib
+		functions (strdup, strndup, atoi, etc.).
+
+		This is required when using flat build with USER_HEAP mode
+		to avoid heap allocation issues with ROM strdup.
+
 config ESP32S3_SPIRAM_MAP
 	bool "Remap the size and offset of SPIRAM virtual address"
 	depends on ESP32S3_SPIRAM
diff --git a/arch/xtensa/src/esp32s3/hal.mk b/arch/xtensa/src/esp32s3/hal.mk
index f728d2e4bd159..c41263a169616 100644
--- a/arch/xtensa/src/esp32s3/hal.mk
+++ b/arch/xtensa/src/esp32s3/hal.mk
@@ -94,7 +94,11 @@ ARCHSCRIPT += $(ARCH_SRCDIR)$(DELIM)chip$(DELIM)$(ESP_HAL_3RDPARTY_REPO)$(DELIM)
 ARCHSCRIPT += $(ARCH_SRCDIR)$(DELIM)chip$(DELIM)$(ESP_HAL_3RDPARTY_REPO)$(DELIM)components$(DELIM)esp_rom$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES)$(DELIM)ld$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES).rom.ld
 ARCHSCRIPT += $(ARCH_SRCDIR)$(DELIM)chip$(DELIM)$(ESP_HAL_3RDPARTY_REPO)$(DELIM)components$(DELIM)esp_rom$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES)$(DELIM)ld$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES).rom.libc.ld
 ARCHSCRIPT += $(ARCH_SRCDIR)$(DELIM)chip$(DELIM)$(ESP_HAL_3RDPARTY_REPO)$(DELIM)components$(DELIM)esp_rom$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES)$(DELIM)ld$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES).rom.libgcc.ld
-ARCHSCRIPT += $(ARCH_SRCDIR)$(DELIM)chip$(DELIM)$(ESP_HAL_3RDPARTY_REPO)$(DELIM)components$(DELIM)esp_rom$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES)$(DELIM)ld$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES).rom.newlib.ld
+ifeq ($(CONFIG_ESP32S3_DONT_USE_ROM_LIBC),y)
+  # Use NuttX libc instead of ROM newlib functions
+else
+  ARCHSCRIPT += $(ARCH_SRCDIR)$(DELIM)chip$(DELIM)$(ESP_HAL_3RDPARTY_REPO)$(DELIM)components$(DELIM)esp_rom$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES)$(DELIM)ld$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES).rom.newlib.ld
+endif
 ARCHSCRIPT += $(ARCH_SRCDIR)$(DELIM)chip$(DELIM)$(ESP_HAL_3RDPARTY_REPO)$(DELIM)components$(DELIM)esp_rom$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES)$(DELIM)ld$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES).rom.version.ld
 ARCHSCRIPT += $(ARCH_SRCDIR)$(DELIM)chip$(DELIM)$(ESP_HAL_3RDPARTY_REPO)$(DELIM)components$(DELIM)esp_rom$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES)$(DELIM)ld$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES).rom.wdt.ld
 ARCHSCRIPT += $(ARCH_SRCDIR)$(DELIM)chip$(DELIM)$(ESP_HAL_3RDPARTY_REPO)$(DELIM)components$(DELIM)soc$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES)$(DELIM)ld$(DELIM)$(CHIP_SERIES).peripherals.ld