diff --git a/lib/tasks/gather.js b/lib/tasks/gather.js
index 004207dd..05c02c43 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/gather.js
+++ b/lib/tasks/gather.js
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ class TaskGather extends Task {
 
   get name() { return TaskName.Gather; }
 
+  get needsStt() { return this.input.includes('speech'); }
+
   get earlyMedia() {
     return (this.sayTask && this.sayTask.earlyMedia) ||
       (this.playTask && this.playTask.earlyMedia);
@@ -59,7 +61,7 @@ class TaskGather extends Task {
     if ('default' === this.vendor || !this.vendor) this.vendor = cs.speechRecognizerVendor;
     if ('default' === this.language || !this.language) this.language = cs.speechRecognizerLanguage;
     this.sttCredentials = cs.getSpeechCredentials(this.vendor, 'stt');
-    if (!this.sttCredentials) {
+    if (this.needsStt && !this.sttCredentials) {
       const {writeAlerts, AlertType} = cs.srf.locals;
       this.logger.info(`TaskGather:exec - ERROR stt using ${this.vendor} requested but not creds supplied`);
       writeAlerts({