diff --git a/components/freertos/CMakeLists.txt b/components/freertos/CMakeLists.txt
index 6008b543e8..f3ab5a11e2 100644
--- a/components/freertos/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/components/freertos/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -113,17 +113,10 @@ else()
     endif()
 endif()
 
-# esp_timer is required by FreeRTOS when we use esp_timer_get_time() to do profiling
-# [refactor-todo]: make this an optional requirement depending on CONFIG_FREERTOS_RUN_TIME_STATS_USING_ESP_TIMER
-# Note, many other components implicitly include esp_timer.h via freertos portmacro.h and some
-# components implicitly depend on esp_timer via freertos.
-set(required_components esp_timer)
-
 idf_component_register(SRCS "${srcs}"
                     INCLUDE_DIRS ${include_dirs}
                     PRIV_INCLUDE_DIRS  ${private_include_dirs}
                     LDFRAGMENTS linker.lf
-                    REQUIRES ${required_components}
                     PRIV_REQUIRES soc esp_pm)
 
 idf_component_get_property(COMPONENT_DIR freertos COMPONENT_DIR)
@@ -166,3 +159,9 @@ if(CONFIG_ESP_SYSTEM_GDBSTUB_RUNTIME)
     # [refactor-todo]: port.c esp_startup_start_app_common() calls esp_gdbstub_init()
     idf_component_optional_requires(PRIVATE esp_gdbstub)
 endif()
+
+if(CONFIG_FREERTOS_RUN_TIME_STATS_USING_ESP_TIMER)
+    # [refactor-todo]: esp_timer is required by FreeRTOS when we use esp_timer_get_time() to do profiling
+    # Introduce a port wrapper function to avoid including esp_timer.h into the public header
+    idf_component_optional_requires(PUBLIC esp_timer)
+endif()
diff --git a/components/freertos/FreeRTOS-Kernel-SMP/portable/xtensa/include/freertos/portmacro.h b/components/freertos/FreeRTOS-Kernel-SMP/portable/xtensa/include/freertos/portmacro.h
index 4558a4f05b..5c1cd214a1 100644
--- a/components/freertos/FreeRTOS-Kernel-SMP/portable/xtensa/include/freertos/portmacro.h
+++ b/components/freertos/FreeRTOS-Kernel-SMP/portable/xtensa/include/freertos/portmacro.h
@@ -382,7 +382,6 @@ portmacro.h. Therefore, we need to keep these headers around for now to allow th
 #include <stdarg.h>
 #include <xtensa/hal.h>
 #include "esp_attr.h"
-#include "esp_timer.h"
 #include "esp_newlib.h"
 #include "esp_heap_caps.h"
 #include "esp_rom_sys.h"
@@ -392,6 +391,11 @@ portmacro.h. Therefore, we need to keep these headers around for now to allow th
 #include <xtensa/config/system.h>
 #include <xtensa/xtensa_api.h>
 
+/* [refactor-todo] introduce a port wrapper function to avoid including esp_timer.h into the public header */
+#if CONFIG_FREERTOS_RUN_TIME_STATS_USING_ESP_TIMER
+#include "esp_timer.h"
+#endif
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/components/freertos/FreeRTOS-Kernel/portable/riscv/include/freertos/portmacro.h b/components/freertos/FreeRTOS-Kernel/portable/riscv/include/freertos/portmacro.h
index 253540b61d..bee5834be0 100644
--- a/components/freertos/FreeRTOS-Kernel/portable/riscv/include/freertos/portmacro.h
+++ b/components/freertos/FreeRTOS-Kernel/portable/riscv/include/freertos/portmacro.h
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@
 #include "esp_macros.h"
 #include "esp_attr.h"
 #include "esp_rom_sys.h"
-#include "esp_timer.h"              /* required for FreeRTOS run time stats */
 #include "esp_heap_caps.h"
 #include "esp_system.h"             /* required by esp_get_...() functions in portable.h. [refactor-todo] Update portable.h */
 #include "esp_newlib.h"
@@ -55,6 +54,11 @@
 /* [refactor-todo] These includes are not directly used in this file. They are kept into to prevent a breaking change. Remove these. */
 #include <limits.h>
 
+/* [refactor-todo] introduce a port wrapper function to avoid including esp_timer.h into the public header */
+#if CONFIG_FREERTOS_RUN_TIME_STATS_USING_ESP_TIMER
+#include "esp_timer.h"
+#endif
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
 #endif
diff --git a/components/freertos/FreeRTOS-Kernel/portable/xtensa/include/freertos/portmacro.h b/components/freertos/FreeRTOS-Kernel/portable/xtensa/include/freertos/portmacro.h
index 5d0d7e2f1d..edaf65ddb8 100644
--- a/components/freertos/FreeRTOS-Kernel/portable/xtensa/include/freertos/portmacro.h
+++ b/components/freertos/FreeRTOS-Kernel/portable/xtensa/include/freertos/portmacro.h
@@ -76,7 +76,6 @@
 #include "esp_private/crosscore_int.h"
 #include "esp_macros.h"
 #include "esp_attr.h"
-#include "esp_timer.h"              /* required for esp_timer_get_time. [refactor-todo] make this common between archs */
 #include "esp_newlib.h"             /* required for esp_reent_init() in tasks.c */
 #include "esp_heap_caps.h"
 #include "esp_rom_sys.h"
@@ -88,6 +87,11 @@
 #include <xtensa/config/system.h>
 #include <xtensa/xtensa_api.h>
 
+/* [refactor-todo] introduce a port wrapper function to avoid including esp_timer.h into the public header */
+#if CONFIG_FREERTOS_RUN_TIME_STATS_USING_ESP_TIMER
+#include "esp_timer.h"
+#endif
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
 #endif