diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-voice-conversation.ts b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-voice-conversation.ts
index 2340672ed9f..b2e54da3f2e 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-voice-conversation.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-voice-conversation.ts
@@ -229,6 +229,12 @@ export function useVoiceConversation({
         onSilence: () => void handleTurn()
       })
       setStatus('listening')
+      // Clear any prior turn-timeout before arming a fresh one. Each listen
+      // cycle reassigns turnTimeoutRef; without clearing first, a stale 60s
+      // timer from an earlier cycle survives and later fires handleTurn() in
+      // the middle of a new listen, cutting it short (or, after enough idle
+      // re-listens, wedging the loop into a state it doesn't re-arm from).
+      clearTurnTimeout()
       turnTimeoutRef.current = window.setTimeout(() => void handleTurn(), 60_000)
     } catch (error) {
       notifyError(error, voiceCopy.couldNotStartSession)
diff --git a/tests/tools/test_wake_word.py b/tests/tools/test_wake_word.py
index baca95ab91b..6257ead738e 100644
--- a/tests/tools/test_wake_word.py
+++ b/tests/tools/test_wake_word.py
@@ -338,11 +338,11 @@ def test_default_framework_is_onnx_elsewhere(monkeypatch, plat, machine):
     assert ww.default_inference_framework() == "onnx"
 
 
-def test_explicit_framework_overrides_platform_default(monkeypatch):
-    # An operator who pins a backend keeps it, even on macOS ARM64.
+def test_explicit_framework_kept_off_broken_platform(monkeypatch):
+    # An operator who pins a backend keeps it everywhere ONNX actually works.
     calls = _install_fake_openwakeword(monkeypatch)
-    monkeypatch.setattr(ww.sys, "platform", "darwin")
-    monkeypatch.setattr("platform.machine", lambda: "arm64")
+    monkeypatch.setattr(ww.sys, "platform", "linux")
+    monkeypatch.setattr("platform.machine", lambda: "x86_64")
     ww._OpenWakeWordEngine(
         {"provider": "openwakeword", "openwakeword": {"inference_framework": "onnx"}}
     )
@@ -350,6 +350,47 @@ def test_explicit_framework_overrides_platform_default(monkeypatch):
     assert downloaded == [ww._bundled_wakeword_path("onnx")]
 
 
+def test_explicit_onnx_coerced_to_tflite_on_macos_arm64(monkeypatch):
+    # The one exception: explicit onnx on macOS ARM64 is provably dead (ONNX's
+    # embedding model never fires, upstream #336). Existing users who pinned it
+    # before the tflite fix must not keep a wake word that arms but never fires.
+    monkeypatch.setattr(ww.sys, "platform", "darwin")
+    monkeypatch.setattr("platform.machine", lambda: "arm64")
+    resolved = ww.resolve_inference_framework(
+        {"openwakeword": {"inference_framework": "onnx"}}
+    )
+    assert resolved == "tflite"
+
+
+def test_explicit_onnx_kept_on_macos_intel(monkeypatch):
+    # Intel Macs run ONNX fine — only ARM64 is broken, so don't coerce there.
+    monkeypatch.setattr(ww.sys, "platform", "darwin")
+    monkeypatch.setattr("platform.machine", lambda: "x86_64")
+    resolved = ww.resolve_inference_framework(
+        {"openwakeword": {"inference_framework": "onnx"}}
+    )
+    assert resolved == "onnx"
+
+
+def test_explicit_tflite_kept_on_macos_arm64(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setattr(ww.sys, "platform", "darwin")
+    monkeypatch.setattr("platform.machine", lambda: "arm64")
+    resolved = ww.resolve_inference_framework(
+        {"openwakeword": {"inference_framework": "tflite"}}
+    )
+    assert resolved == "tflite"
+
+
+def test_empty_framework_falls_back_to_platform_default(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setattr(ww.sys, "platform", "darwin")
+    monkeypatch.setattr("platform.machine", lambda: "arm64")
+    assert ww.resolve_inference_framework({}) == "tflite"
+    assert ww.resolve_inference_framework({"openwakeword": {"inference_framework": ""}}) == "tflite"
+    monkeypatch.setattr(ww.sys, "platform", "linux")
+    monkeypatch.setattr("platform.machine", lambda: "x86_64")
+    assert ww.resolve_inference_framework({}) == "onnx"
+
+
 # ── ambient-speech rejection: consecutive-frame confirmation ──────────────────
 
 def _openwakeword_engine_with_scores(monkeypatch, cfg_wake, scores):
diff --git a/tools/wake_word.py b/tools/wake_word.py
index 9367127fe3f..143372830d3 100644
--- a/tools/wake_word.py
+++ b/tools/wake_word.py
@@ -115,6 +115,44 @@ def default_inference_framework() -> str:
     return "tflite" if _is_macos_arm64() else "onnx"
 
 
+_warned_onnx_coerced = False
+
+
+def resolve_inference_framework(cfg: Dict[str, Any]) -> str:
+    """Resolve the effective openWakeWord backend from config.
+
+    Honors an explicit ``openwakeword.inference_framework`` — EXCEPT the one
+    combination that is provably dead: an explicit ``onnx`` on macOS ARM64,
+    where ONNX's embedding model never lets a phrase cross threshold (upstream
+    #336). Existing macOS users who pinned ``onnx`` before the tflite fix landed
+    would otherwise keep a wake word that arms but never fires. Coerce that one
+    case to tflite (with a one-time warning) instead of silently shipping a dead
+    ear. Every other explicit value is respected as-is; empty falls back to the
+    platform default.
+    """
+    global _warned_onnx_coerced
+
+    sub = cfg.get("openwakeword") if isinstance(cfg.get("openwakeword"), dict) else {}
+    framework = str(sub.get("inference_framework") or "").strip().lower()
+
+    if not framework:
+        return default_inference_framework()
+
+    if framework == "onnx" and _is_macos_arm64():
+        if not _warned_onnx_coerced:
+            _warned_onnx_coerced = True
+            logger.warning(
+                "wake: openwakeword.inference_framework='onnx' is set but ONNX's "
+                "embedding model never fires on macOS ARM64 (openWakeWord #336) — "
+                "using tflite instead. Set inference_framework to '' (auto) or "
+                "'tflite' in config.yaml to silence this."
+            )
+        return "tflite"
+
+    return framework
+
+
+
 def ensure_tflite_runtime() -> bool:
     """Make ``import tflite_runtime.interpreter`` resolve, returning success.
 
@@ -324,9 +362,7 @@ class _OpenWakeWordEngine(_Engine):
 
         sub = cfg.get("openwakeword") if isinstance(cfg.get("openwakeword"), dict) else {}
         model_ref = str(sub.get("model") or _BUNDLED_MODEL_NAME).strip()
-        framework = str(sub.get("inference_framework") or "").strip().lower()
-        if not framework:
-            framework = default_inference_framework()
+        framework = resolve_inference_framework(cfg)
         # openWakeWord returns a 0..1 score per frame; sensitivity IS the raw
         # threshold a score must clear. Higher = stricter (fewer false fires).
         # Default 0.6 sits above openWakeWord's permissive 0.5 baseline, which
@@ -714,8 +750,7 @@ def check_wake_word_requirements(cfg: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None) -> Dict[s
     # Report it as a real remediation instead of arming a detector that can't fire.
     tflite_ok = True
     if provider not in ("porcupine", "sherpa", "sherpa-onnx", "kws", "open"):
-        sub = cfg.get("openwakeword") if isinstance(cfg.get("openwakeword"), dict) else {}
-        framework = str(sub.get("inference_framework") or "").strip().lower() or default_inference_framework()
+        framework = resolve_inference_framework(cfg)
         if framework == "tflite":
             tflite_ok = ensure_tflite_runtime() or lazy_deps.is_available("wake.openwakeword.tflite") or lazy_ok