diff --git a/assignment-client/src/Agent.cpp b/assignment-client/src/Agent.cpp
index bd368ef7c2..9c31f3f03f 100644
--- a/assignment-client/src/Agent.cpp
+++ b/assignment-client/src/Agent.cpp
@@ -755,7 +755,7 @@ void Agent::processAgentAvatarAudio() {
         int16_t numAvailableSamples = AudioConstants::NETWORK_FRAME_SAMPLES_PER_CHANNEL;
         const int16_t* nextSoundOutput = NULL;
 
-        if (_avatarSound) {
+        if (_avatarSound && _avatarSound->isReady()) {
             auto audioData = _avatarSound->getAudioData();
             nextSoundOutput = reinterpret_cast<const int16_t*>(audioData->rawData()
                     + _numAvatarSoundSentBytes);