Academic successes are a common part of children's daily lives. Prior research indicates that children frequently attempt to capitalize on these events by sharing the good news with peers. This short‐term longitudinal study of third‐ through seventh‐grade students (N = 359) provides evidence that, for children with low academic competence perceptions, peer academic support in the form of enthusiastic responses to academic success disclosures can be a double‐edged sword. Regardless of their self‐views, perceptions of enthusiastic responses to academic success disclosures were associated with a greater willingness to disclose academic successes to friends and higher perceptions of peer academic support over time. For children with low academic competence perceptions, however, perceptions of enthusiastic responses to academic success disclosures also predicted heightened academic worry which, in turn, predicted greater endorsement of performance–avoidance goals over time. Future research will be critical in developing interventions that can assist children with low academic competence perceptions in more fully enjoying the benefits that can accrue from capitalization attempts.