Forests mitigate climate change by storing massive amounts of carbon. Increases in wildfire activity threaten forest carbon storage, but mechanisms controlling tree carbon uptake and survival remain unresolved. Our current understanding is largely informed by laboratory and low-intensity fire experiments, none of which have focused on mature trees. We are the first to quantify carbon uptake by a wide-spread tree species immediately following wildfire that caused variable degrees of damage. Burned trees indicated less water stress than unburned trees during summer drought, and photosynthetic capacity of new and remaining needles increased with tree damage. Our results indicate boosts in carbon uptake efficiency compensate for whole-tree fire damage. These findings fundamentally change how Earth system models should represent post-fire carbon dynamics, which directly inform climate policy.