diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c371bb082..a77671228 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,14 @@ All notable changes to **Pipecat** will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Fixed
+
+- Fix a pipeline freeze when using AWS Nova Sonic, which would occur if the
+  user started early, while the bot was still working through
+  `trigger_assistant_response()`.
+
 ## [0.0.75] - 2025-07-08
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/src/pipecat/services/aws_nova_sonic/aws.py b/src/pipecat/services/aws_nova_sonic/aws.py
index 90c93fc39..7c8eb112c 100644
--- a/src/pipecat/services/aws_nova_sonic/aws.py
+++ b/src/pipecat/services/aws_nova_sonic/aws.py
@@ -474,7 +474,6 @@ class AWSNovaSonicLLMService(LLMService):
         # If we need to, send assistant response trigger (depends on self._connected_time)
         if self._triggering_assistant_response:
             await self._send_assistant_response_trigger()
-            self._triggering_assistant_response = False
 
     async def _disconnect(self):
         try:
@@ -1105,7 +1104,6 @@ class AWSNovaSonicLLMService(LLMService):
         # Send the trigger audio, if we're fully connected and set up
         if self._connected_time is not None:
             await self._send_assistant_response_trigger()
-            self._triggering_assistant_response = False
 
     async def _send_assistant_response_trigger(self):
         if (
@@ -1113,46 +1111,51 @@ class AWSNovaSonicLLMService(LLMService):
         ):  # should never happen
             return
 
-        logger.debug("Sending assistant response trigger...")
+        try:
+            logger.debug("Sending assistant response trigger...")
 
-        chunk_duration = 0.02  # what we might get from InputAudioRawFrame
-        chunk_size = int(
-            chunk_duration
-            * self._params.input_sample_rate
-            * self._params.input_channel_count
-            * (self._params.input_sample_size / 8)
-        )  # e.g. 0.02 seconds of 16-bit (2-byte) PCM mono audio at 16kHz is 640 bytes
+            chunk_duration = 0.02  # what we might get from InputAudioRawFrame
+            chunk_size = int(
+                chunk_duration
+                * self._params.input_sample_rate
+                * self._params.input_channel_count
+                * (self._params.input_sample_size / 8)
+            )  # e.g. 0.02 seconds of 16-bit (2-byte) PCM mono audio at 16kHz is 640 bytes
 
-        # Lead with a bit of blank audio, if needed.
-        # It seems like the LLM can't quite "hear" the first little bit of audio sent on a
-        # connection.
-        current_time = time.time()
-        max_blank_audio_duration = 0.5
-        blank_audio_duration = (
-            max_blank_audio_duration - (current_time - self._connected_time)
-            if self._connected_time is not None
-            and (current_time - self._connected_time) < max_blank_audio_duration
-            else None
-        )
-        if blank_audio_duration:
-            logger.debug(
-                f"Leading assistant response trigger with {blank_audio_duration}s of blank audio"
+            # Lead with a bit of blank audio, if needed.
+            # It seems like the LLM can't quite "hear" the first little bit of audio sent on a
+            # connection.
+            current_time = time.time()
+            max_blank_audio_duration = 0.5
+            blank_audio_duration = (
+                max_blank_audio_duration - (current_time - self._connected_time)
+                if self._connected_time is not None
+                and (current_time - self._connected_time) < max_blank_audio_duration
+                else None
             )
-            blank_audio_chunk = b"\x00" * chunk_size
-            num_chunks = int(blank_audio_duration / chunk_duration)
-            for _ in range(num_chunks):
-                await self._send_user_audio_event(blank_audio_chunk)
-                await asyncio.sleep(chunk_duration)
+            if blank_audio_duration:
+                logger.debug(
+                    f"Leading assistant response trigger with {blank_audio_duration}s of blank audio"
+                )
+                blank_audio_chunk = b"\x00" * chunk_size
+                num_chunks = int(blank_audio_duration / chunk_duration)
+                for _ in range(num_chunks):
+                    await self._send_user_audio_event(blank_audio_chunk)
+                    await asyncio.sleep(chunk_duration)
 
-        # Send trigger audio
-        # NOTE: this audio *will* be transcribed and eventually make it into the context. That's OK:
-        # if we ever need to seed this service again with context it would make sense to include it
-        # since the instruction (i.e. the "wait for the trigger" instruction) will be part of the
-        # context as well.
-        audio_chunks = [
-            self._assistant_response_trigger_audio[i : i + chunk_size]
-            for i in range(0, len(self._assistant_response_trigger_audio), chunk_size)
-        ]
-        for chunk in audio_chunks:
-            await self._send_user_audio_event(chunk)
-            await asyncio.sleep(chunk_duration)
+            # Send trigger audio
+            # NOTE: this audio *will* be transcribed and eventually make it into the context. That's OK:
+            # if we ever need to seed this service again with context it would make sense to include it
+            # since the instruction (i.e. the "wait for the trigger" instruction) will be part of the
+            # context as well.
+            audio_chunks = [
+                self._assistant_response_trigger_audio[i : i + chunk_size]
+                for i in range(0, len(self._assistant_response_trigger_audio), chunk_size)
+            ]
+            for chunk in audio_chunks:
+                await self._send_user_audio_event(chunk)
+                await asyncio.sleep(chunk_duration)
+        finally:
+            # We need to clean up in case sending the trigger was cancelled, e.g. in the case of a user interruption.
+            # (An asyncio.CancelledError would be raised in that case.)
+            self._triggering_assistant_response = False