diff --git a/lib/tasks/gather.js b/lib/tasks/gather.js
index 75f0e085..8db6eae2 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/gather.js
+++ b/lib/tasks/gather.js
@@ -846,8 +846,10 @@ class TaskGather extends SttTask {
         this._startAsrTimer();
 
         /* some STT engines will keep listening after a final response, so no need to restart */
-        if (!['soniox', 'aws', 'microsoft', 'deepgram', 'speechmatics']
-          .includes(this.vendor)) this._startTranscribing(ep);
+        if (!['soniox', 'aws', 'microsoft', 'deepgram', 'speechmatics'].includes(this.vendor) &&
+          !this.vendor.startsWith('custom')) {
+          this._startTranscribing(ep);
+        }
       }
       else {
         /* this was removed to fix https://github.com/jambonz/jambonz-feature-server/issues/783 */