diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 41d1b6236..3ee2453e4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@ 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
+
+- Fixed an issue with `GoogleSTTService` where it was constantly reconnecting 
+  before starting to receive audio from the user.
+
 ## [0.0.71] - 2025-06-10
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/src/pipecat/services/google/stt.py b/src/pipecat/services/google/stt.py
index 4fd129af3..bf60541f5 100644
--- a/src/pipecat/services/google/stt.py
+++ b/src/pipecat/services/google/stt.py
@@ -747,6 +747,11 @@ class GoogleSTTService(STTService):
         try:
             while True:
                 try:
+                    if self._request_queue.empty():
+                        # wait for 10ms in case we don't have audio
+                        await asyncio.sleep(0.01)
+                        continue
+
                     # Start bi-directional streaming
                     streaming_recognize = await self._client.streaming_recognize(
                         requests=self._request_generator()