diff --git a/lib/tasks/gather.js b/lib/tasks/gather.js
index 8aa1bdc9..8a9b1ff7 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/gather.js
+++ b/lib/tasks/gather.js
@@ -319,6 +319,13 @@ class TaskGather extends SttTask {
       this._resolve('dtmf-terminator-key');
     }
     else if (this.input.includes('digits')) {
+      if (this.digitBuffer.length === 0 && this.needsStt) {
+        // DTMF is higher priority than STT.
+        this.removeSpeechListeners(ep);
+        ep.stopTranscription({vendor: this.vendor})
+          .catch((err) => this.logger.error({err},
+            ` Received DTMF, Error stopping transcription for vendor ${this.vendor}`));
+      }
       this.digitBuffer += evt.dtmf;
       const len = this.digitBuffer.length;
       if (len === this.numDigits || len === this.maxDigits) {
@@ -528,7 +535,9 @@ class TaskGather extends SttTask {
     this._clearTimer();
     this._timeoutTimer = setTimeout(() => {
       if (this.isContinuousAsr) this._startAsrTimer();
-      else if (this.interDigitTimeout <= 0 || this.digitBuffer.length < this.minDigits || this.needsStt) {
+      else if (this.interDigitTimeout <= 0 ||
+        this.digitBuffer.length < this.minDigits ||
+        this.needsStt && this.digitBuffer.length === 0) {
         this._resolve(this.digitBuffer.length >= this.minDigits ? 'dtmf-num-digits' : 'timeout');
       }
     }, this.timeout);