diff --git a/components/control_plane/src/multimodal/control_plane_multimodal_session_service.c b/components/control_plane/src/multimodal/control_plane_multimodal_session_service.c
index 83bda77..858ca3f 100644
--- a/components/control_plane/src/multimodal/control_plane_multimodal_session_service.c
+++ b/components/control_plane/src/multimodal/control_plane_multimodal_session_service.c
@@ -84,7 +84,6 @@
 #define CONTROL_PLANE_LOCAL_RESPONDING_EVENT_TASK_STACK_BYTES 4096U
 #define CONTROL_PLANE_LOCAL_RESPONDING_EVENT_TASK_PRIORITY 5U
 #define CONTROL_PLANE_LOCAL_RESPONDING_EVENT_QUEUE_LEN 4U
-#define CONTROL_PLANE_LOCAL_RESPONDING_EVENT_IDLE_EXIT_MS 5000U
 #define CONTROL_PLANE_MULTIMODAL_BINARY_SUMMARY_INTERVAL 200U
 #define CONTROL_PLANE_UPLINK_READY_WAIT_MS 6000U
 #define CONTROL_PLANE_AUDIO_SEND_FAILURE_WINDOW_MS 100U
@@ -545,17 +544,10 @@ static void local_responding_event_worker(void *arg)
 
     local_responding_event_msg_t msg = {0};
     while (true) {
-        TickType_t idle_ticks = pdMS_TO_TICKS(CONTROL_PLANE_LOCAL_RESPONDING_EVENT_IDLE_EXIT_MS);
-        if (idle_ticks == 0) {
-            idle_ticks = 1;
-        }
-        if (xQueueReceive(s_local_responding_event_queue, &msg, idle_ticks) != pdTRUE) {
-            if (lock_state()) {
-                s_local_responding_event_task = NULL;
-                unlock_state();
-            }
-            vTaskDelete(NULL);
-            return;
+        if (xQueueReceive(s_local_responding_event_queue,
+                          &msg,
+                          portMAX_DELAY) != pdTRUE) {
+            continue;
         }
 
         if (msg.type == LOCAL_RESPONDING_EVENT_QUIT) {
@@ -628,6 +620,7 @@ static esp_err_t ensure_local_responding_event_worker(void)
             s_local_responding_event_queue = NULL;
             return ESP_ERR_NO_MEM;
         }
+        ESP_LOGI(TAG, "Local responding event worker started (persistent)");
     }
 
     return ESP_OK;
@@ -709,9 +702,14 @@ static void queue_local_responding_event(local_responding_event_type_t type)
         return;
     }
 
-    esp_err_t worker_err = ensure_local_responding_event_worker();
-    if (worker_err != ESP_OK) {
-        ESP_LOGW(TAG, "Local responding event worker unavailable: %s", esp_err_to_name(worker_err));
+    QueueHandle_t queue = NULL;
+    if (lock_state()) {
+        queue = s_local_responding_event_task != NULL ?
+                s_local_responding_event_queue : NULL;
+        unlock_state();
+    }
+    if (queue == NULL) {
+        ESP_LOGW(TAG, "Local responding event worker unavailable");
         if (lock_state()) {
             if (type == LOCAL_RESPONDING_EVENT_STARTED) {
                 s_local_responding_started_send_pending = false;
@@ -727,7 +725,7 @@ static void queue_local_responding_event(local_responding_event_type_t type)
         .type = type,
     };
     strlcpy(msg.task_id, task_id, sizeof(msg.task_id));
-    if (xQueueSend(s_local_responding_event_queue, &msg, 0) != pdTRUE) {
+    if (xQueueSend(queue, &msg, 0) != pdTRUE) {
         ESP_LOGW(TAG,
                  "Local responding event queue full (%s)",
                  type == LOCAL_RESPONDING_EVENT_STARTED ? "started" : "ended");
@@ -1669,11 +1667,24 @@ esp_err_t control_plane_multimodal_start(void)
         return err;
     }
 
+    err = ensure_local_responding_event_worker();
+    if (err != ESP_OK) {
+        ESP_LOGW(TAG,
+                 "Local responding event worker start failed: %s",
+                 esp_err_to_name(err));
+        if (lock_state()) {
+            s_starting = false;
+            unlock_state();
+        }
+        return err;
+    }
+
     err = domain_runtime_multimodal_audio_register_downstream_playback_callback(
             downstream_playback_event_bridge,
             NULL);
     if (err != ESP_OK) {
         ESP_LOGW(TAG, "Register downstream playback callback failed: %s", esp_err_to_name(err));
+        stop_local_responding_event_worker();
         if (lock_state()) {
             s_starting = false;
             unlock_state();
@@ -1685,6 +1696,7 @@ esp_err_t control_plane_multimodal_start(void)
     if (err != ESP_OK) {
         ESP_LOGW(TAG, "Transport start failed: %s", esp_err_to_name(err));
         (void)domain_runtime_multimodal_audio_register_downstream_playback_callback(NULL, NULL);
+        stop_local_responding_event_worker();
         if (lock_state()) {
             s_starting = false;
             unlock_state();