diff --git a/lib/tasks/gather.js b/lib/tasks/gather.js
index 6ea2ec2a..778be7c4 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/gather.js
+++ b/lib/tasks/gather.js
@@ -837,7 +837,7 @@ class TaskGather extends SttTask {
         if (this.bargein && (words + bufferedWords) < this.minBargeinWordCount) {
           this.logger.debug({evt, words, bufferedWords},
             'TaskGather:_onTranscription - final transcript but < min barge words');
-          this._bufferedTranscripts.push(evt);
+          if (!emptyTranscript) this._bufferedTranscripts.push(evt);
           if (!['soniox', 'aws', 'microsoft', 'deepgram'].includes(this.vendor)) this._startTranscribing(ep);
           return;
         }