diff --git a/bot.py b/bot.py
index 52d2d3d..d8383b0 100644
--- a/bot.py
+++ b/bot.py
@@ -287,7 +287,16 @@ async def process_recording(
             )
             return
 
-        if not await wait_for_file_ready(file_path):
+        # Speaker tracks are written and finalized independently in MeetingSink
+        # cleanup — they always have valid WAV headers if they exist.  Check
+        # them first so we can skip the mixed-file "ready" wait (which is prone
+        # to timing races with the SilenceGenerator shutdown path).
+        if _load_speaker_tracks(file_path):
+            logger.info(
+                "Speaker tracks present for guild_id=%s; skipping mixed-file readiness check",
+                guild_id,
+            )
+        elif not await wait_for_file_ready(file_path):
             reason = "recording file was not finalized in time"
             await _save_retry_state(guild_id, file_path, fallback_channel_id, reason)
             await safe_send_chunked(
diff --git a/recording.py b/recording.py
index 2fab9e2..a89853d 100644
--- a/recording.py
+++ b/recording.py
@@ -111,6 +111,9 @@ class MeetingSink(voice_recv.AudioSink):
         return track
 
     def write(self, user, data) -> None:
+        if self._cleaned_up:
+            return
+
         pcm = getattr(data, "pcm", b"") or b""
 
         # Mixed archive always gets every frame (including silence) so the
diff --git a/tests/test_bot.py b/tests/test_bot.py
index ac361d3..2027795 100644
--- a/tests/test_bot.py
+++ b/tests/test_bot.py
@@ -200,3 +200,56 @@ def test_transcribe_recording_falls_back_to_single_file_for_old_recordings(tmp_p
 
     assert result == "single transcript"
     assert calls == [("single", str(meeting))]
+
+
+def test_process_recording_skips_ready_wait_when_tracks_exist(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """When speaker tracks exist, process_recording should not call wait_for_file_ready."""
+    meeting = tmp_path / "meeting.wav"
+    meeting.write_bytes(b"RIFFdemo")
+    tracks_dir = tmp_path / "tracks"
+    tracks_dir.mkdir()
+    alice = tracks_dir / "track-111.wav"
+    alice.write_bytes(b"alice audio")
+    (tracks_dir / "tracks.json").write_text(
+        '{"tracks":[{"display_name":"Alice","path":"' + str(alice) + '"}]}'
+    )
+    calls = []
+
+    async def fake_transcribe_recording(path, guild_id):
+        calls.append(("transcribe", path))
+        return "[Alice]\nhello"
+
+    async def fake_summarize(transcript):
+        calls.append(("summarize", transcript))
+        return "Summary text."
+
+    async def fake_get_output_channel(guild_id):
+        return 999
+
+    async def fake_clear_retry_state(_guild_id):
+        pass
+
+    async def fake_resolve_text_channel(_channel_id):
+        return SimpleNamespace(id=999, send=lambda t: None)
+
+    async def fake_safe_send_chunked(_channel, text, **kw):
+        calls.append(("delivered", text[:30]))
+        return True
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(bot, "_transcribe_recording", fake_transcribe_recording)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(bot, "summarize", fake_summarize)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(bot, "wait_for_file_ready", lambda *a, **kw: calls.append(("ready",)) or True)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(bot, "safe_send_chunked", fake_safe_send_chunked)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(bot, "config", SimpleNamespace(
+        get_output_channel=fake_get_output_channel,
+        clear_retry_state=fake_clear_retry_state,
+        set_retry_state=lambda g, p, c, r: None,
+    ))
+    monkeypatch.setattr(bot, "resolve_text_channel", fake_resolve_text_channel)
+
+    asyncio.run(bot.process_recording(str(meeting), 123, 456, None))
+
+    # wait_for_file_ready should NOT have been called
+    assert ("ready",) not in calls, "wait_for_file_ready was called despite tracks existing"
+    assert calls[:2] == [("transcribe", str(meeting)),
+                         ("summarize", "[Alice]\nhello")]
diff --git a/tests/test_recording.py b/tests/test_recording.py
index b3eef3c..b350eb5 100644
--- a/tests/test_recording.py
+++ b/tests/test_recording.py
@@ -92,3 +92,25 @@ def test_meeting_sink_ignores_silence_only_and_unknown_users(tmp_path):
     assert manifest["tracks"] == []
     # Mixed archive still finalized and valid.
     assert _read_wav_frames(mixed) == SILENCE * 2
+
+
+def test_meeting_sink_ignores_writes_after_cleanup(tmp_path):
+    """Verify that writes after cleanup() are silently dropped."""
+    mixed = tmp_path / "meeting.wav"
+    tracks_dir = tmp_path / "tracks"
+    sink = recording.MeetingSink(str(mixed), str(tracks_dir))
+
+    alice = FakeUser(111, display_name="Alice")
+    sink.write(alice, FakeData(SPEECH))
+    sink.cleanup()
+
+    # These writes should be dropped, not cause crashes or corrupt the files.
+    sink.write(alice, FakeData(SPEECH))
+    sink.write(None, FakeData(SILENCE))
+
+    # Mixed file should contain only the pre-cleanup frame.
+    assert _read_wav_frames(mixed) == SPEECH
+    assert _read_wav_frames(tracks_dir / "track-111.wav") == SPEECH
+    # Manifest should still reference Alice.
+    manifest = json.loads((tracks_dir / "tracks.json").read_text())
+    assert len(manifest["tracks"]) == 1
\ No newline at end of file