diff --git a/agents/src/llm/fallback_adapter.ts b/agents/src/llm/fallback_adapter.ts
index 128c2392c..2c4c04da3 100644
--- a/agents/src/llm/fallback_adapter.ts
+++ b/agents/src/llm/fallback_adapter.ts
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ class FallbackLLMStream extends LLMStream {
       }
 
       // Handle timeout errors
-      if (error instanceof Error && error.name === 'AbortError') {
+      if ((error as { name?: string })?.name === 'AbortError') {
         if (checkRecovery) {
           this._log.warn({ llm: llm.label() }, 'recovery timed out');
         } else {
diff --git a/agents/src/voice/agent_activity.ts b/agents/src/voice/agent_activity.ts
index 21a6a9fac..3279af680 100644
--- a/agents/src/voice/agent_activity.ts
+++ b/agents/src/voice/agent_activity.ts
@@ -1608,7 +1608,7 @@ export class AgentActivity implements RecognitionHooks {
     const onAbort = () => waitInactiveTask.cancel();
     signal.addEventListener('abort', onAbort, { once: true });
     const waitInactiveResult = waitInactiveTask.result.catch((error) => {
-      if (error instanceof Error && error.name === 'AbortError') {
+      if ((error as { name?: string })?.name === 'AbortError') {
         return;
       }
       throw error;
diff --git a/agents/src/voice/audio_recognition.ts b/agents/src/voice/audio_recognition.ts
index dfa72de1d..14a5dbea3 100644
--- a/agents/src/voice/audio_recognition.ts
+++ b/agents/src/voice/audio_recognition.ts
@@ -336,8 +336,8 @@ export class AudioRecognition {
   // provider's logs for debugging.
   private sttRequestIds: string[] = [];
 
-  private vadInputStream: ReadableStream<AudioFrame>;
-  private sttInputStream: ReadableStream<AudioFrame>;
+  private vadInputStream: ReadableStream<AudioFrame> | null = null;
+  private sttInputStream: ReadableStream<AudioFrame> | null = null;
   /**
    * Active subscriber writers fed from {@link subscribersBroadcast}. Each
    * {@link subscribeAudioStream} call appends one entry; entries are dropped
@@ -498,13 +498,31 @@ export class AudioRecognition {
       );
       this.interruptionStreamChannel = createStreamChannel();
       this.interruptionStreamChannel.addStreamInput(inputStream);
-    } else {
+    } else if (opts.vad) {
       const [vadInputStream, sttInputStream] = primaryInputStream.tee();
       this.vadInputStream = vadInputStream;
       this.sttInputStream = mergeReadableStreams(
         replaceSttInputWithSilence(sttInputStream),
         this.silenceAudioTransform.readable,
       );
+    } else if (opts.stt) {
+      this.sttInputStream = mergeReadableStreams(
+        replaceSttInputWithSilence(primaryInputStream),
+        this.silenceAudioTransform.readable,
+      );
+    } else {
+      // No VAD or STT consumer — drain the primary stream so the broadcast
+      // transform keeps flowing without queuing frames indefinitely.
+      const reader = primaryInputStream.getReader();
+      void (async () => {
+        try {
+          while (!(await reader.read()).done);
+        } catch {
+          /* stream closed */
+        } finally {
+          reader.releaseLock();
+        }
+      })();
     }
     this.silenceAudioWriter = this.silenceAudioTransform.writable.getWriter();
   }
@@ -1729,8 +1747,8 @@ export class AudioRecognition {
         this.logger.debug('EOU detection task completed');
       })
       .catch((err: unknown) => {
-        if (err instanceof Error && err.name === 'AbortError') {
-          // ignore aborted errors
+        if ((err as { name?: string })?.name === 'AbortError') {
+          // ignore aborted errors (DOMException from AbortSignal is not instanceof Error)
           return;
         }
         this.logger.error(err, 'Error in EOU detection task:');
@@ -1745,7 +1763,7 @@ export class AudioRecognition {
     try {
       await this.bounceEOUTask.result;
     } catch (error) {
-      if (error instanceof Error && error.name === 'AbortError') {
+      if ((error as { name?: string })?.name === 'AbortError') {
         return;
       }
       throw error;
@@ -1830,6 +1848,7 @@ export class AudioRecognition {
   }
 
   private async forwardInputAudioToStt(pipeline: STTPipeline, signal: AbortSignal) {
+    if (!this.sttInputStream) return;
     for await (const frame of readStream(this.sttInputStream, signal)) {
       await pipeline.audioChannel.write(frame);
     }
@@ -1842,11 +1861,11 @@ export class AudioRecognition {
   }
 
   private async createVadTask(vad: VAD | undefined, signal: AbortSignal) {
-    if (!vad) return;
+    if (!vad || !this.vadInputStream) return;
 
     const vadStream = vad.stream();
     this.vadStream = vadStream;
-    vadStream.updateInputStream(this.vadInputStream);
+    vadStream.updateInputStream(this.vadInputStream!);
 
     const abortHandler = () => {
       vadStream.detachInputStream();
@@ -2264,7 +2283,7 @@ export class AudioRecognition {
         this.logger.debug('User turn committed');
       })
       .catch((err: unknown) => {
-        if (err instanceof Error && err.name === 'AbortError') {
+        if ((err as { name?: string })?.name === 'AbortError') {
           this.logger.debug('User turn commit task cancelled');
           return;
         }
diff --git a/plugins/elevenlabs/src/stt.ts b/plugins/elevenlabs/src/stt.ts
index 40c7f88fe..5eecbb6cf 100644
--- a/plugins/elevenlabs/src/stt.ts
+++ b/plugins/elevenlabs/src/stt.ts
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@ export class STT extends stt.STT {
       if (error instanceof APIStatusError) {
         throw new APIConnectionError({ message: error.message });
       }
-      if (error instanceof Error && error.name === 'AbortError') {
+      if ((error as { name?: string })?.name === 'AbortError') {
         throw new APITimeoutError({});
       }
       throw new APIConnectionError({});
diff --git a/plugins/google/src/beta/gemini_tts.ts b/plugins/google/src/beta/gemini_tts.ts
index 0d778f0c0..edd331552 100644
--- a/plugins/google/src/beta/gemini_tts.ts
+++ b/plugins/google/src/beta/gemini_tts.ts
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ export class ChunkedStream extends tts.ChunkedStream {
 
       sendLastFrame(true);
     } catch (error: unknown) {
-      if (error instanceof Error && error.name === 'AbortError') {
+      if ((error as { name?: string })?.name === 'AbortError') {
         return;
       }
       if (isAPIError(error)) throw error;
diff --git a/plugins/openai/src/realtime/realtime_model.ts b/plugins/openai/src/realtime/realtime_model.ts
index e8f88035d..488aaf72f 100644
--- a/plugins/openai/src/realtime/realtime_model.ts
+++ b/plugins/openai/src/realtime/realtime_model.ts
@@ -1152,13 +1152,10 @@ export class RealtimeSession extends llm.RealtimeSession {
 
   private async runWs(wsConn: WebSocket): Promise<void> {
     const forwardEvents = async (signal: AbortSignal): Promise<void> => {
-      const abortFuture = new Future<void>();
-      signal.addEventListener('abort', () => abortFuture.resolve());
-
       while (!this.#closed && wsConn.readyState === WebSocket.OPEN && !signal.aborted) {
         try {
-          const event = await Promise.race([this.messageChannel.get(), abortFuture.await]);
-          if (signal.aborted || abortFuture.done || event === undefined) {
+          const event = await this.messageChannel.get({ signal });
+          if (signal.aborted || event === undefined) {
             break;
           }
 
diff --git a/plugins/openai/src/tts.ts b/plugins/openai/src/tts.ts
index f0261e89d..d72a23c66 100644
--- a/plugins/openai/src/tts.ts
+++ b/plugins/openai/src/tts.ts
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ export class ChunkedStream extends tts.ChunkedStream {
 
       this.queue.close();
     } catch (error) {
-      if (error instanceof Error && error.name === 'AbortError') {
+      if ((error as { name?: string })?.name === 'AbortError') {
         return;
       }
       throw error;