diff --git a/internal/audio/oto.go b/internal/audio/oto.go
index c11f972..35647cc 100644
--- a/internal/audio/oto.go
+++ b/internal/audio/oto.go
@@ -91,7 +91,12 @@ func (OtoSink) Play(ctx context.Context, data []byte) error {
 	player.Play()
 	for player.IsPlaying() {
 		if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
-			player.Close()
+			// Cancel: stop the sound NOW. oto's Close is a no-op that
+			// relies on the garbage collector's finalizer, so a cancelled
+			// announcement would play on to its end; Pause takes the
+			// player out of the mix immediately (only the device buffer,
+			// about 100 ms, drains).
+			player.Pause()
 			return err
 		}
 		if err := player.Err(); err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/provider/osbuiltin.go b/internal/provider/osbuiltin.go
index b3e2450..6f1f03e 100644
--- a/internal/provider/osbuiltin.go
+++ b/internal/provider/osbuiltin.go
@@ -122,6 +122,12 @@ func (p OSBuiltin) SpeakDirect(ctx context.Context, text, lang string) error {
 		}
 		cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "spd-say", "-w", "-l", lang, text)
 		if out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput(); err != nil {
+			if ctx.Err() != nil {
+				// Cancelled: killing the waiting client does not stop
+				// speech-dispatcher's output; tell it to stop explicitly.
+				_ = exec.Command("spd-say", "-S").Run()
+				return ctx.Err()
+			}
 			return fmt.Errorf("osbuiltin: spd-say failed: %w: %s", err, bytes.TrimSpace(out))
 		}
 		return nil