diff --git a/DOCS/man/options.rst b/DOCS/man/options.rst
index 1107f3ecdd..3a092651ee 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/options.rst
+++ b/DOCS/man/options.rst
@@ -2116,6 +2116,11 @@ Audio
 
     Not all AOs support this.
 
+    .. admonition:: Warning
+
+        This modifies certain subtle player behavior, like A/V-sync and underrun
+        handling. Enabling this option is strongly discouraged.
+
 ``--audio-wait-open=<secs>``
     This makes sense for use with ``--audio-stream-silence=yes``. If this option
     is given, the player will wait for the given amount of seconds after opening
diff --git a/audio/out/buffer.c b/audio/out/buffer.c
index 9cd7717000..07545a1bca 100644
--- a/audio/out/buffer.c
+++ b/audio/out/buffer.c
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ static void get_dev_state(struct ao *ao, struct mp_pcm_state *state)
 {
     struct buffer_state *p = ao->buffer_state;
 
-    if (p->paused && p->playing) {
+    if (p->paused && p->playing && !ao->stream_silence) {
         *state = p->prepause_state;
         return;
     }
@@ -527,6 +527,11 @@ bool init_buffer_post(struct ao *ao)
         }
     }
 
+    if (ao->stream_silence) {
+        MP_WARN(ao, "The --audio-stream-silence option is set. This will break "
+                "certain player behavior.\n");
+    }
+
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -557,7 +562,7 @@ static bool ao_play_data(struct ao *ao)
 {
     struct buffer_state *p = ao->buffer_state;
 
-    if (!(p->playing && (!p->paused || ao->stream_silence)))
+    if ((!p->playing || p->paused) && !ao->stream_silence)
         return false;
 
     struct mp_pcm_state state;
@@ -624,8 +629,8 @@ static bool ao_play_data(struct ao *ao)
 eof:
     MP_VERBOSE(ao, "audio end or underrun\n");
     // Normal AOs signal EOF on underrun, untimed AOs never signal underruns.
-    if (ao->untimed || !state.playing) {
-        p->streaming = false;
+    if (ao->untimed || !state.playing || ao->stream_silence) {
+        p->streaming = state.playing && !ao->untimed;
         p->playing = false;
     }
     ao->wakeup_cb(ao->wakeup_ctx);
@@ -649,7 +654,7 @@ static void *playthread(void *arg)
         // Wait until the device wants us to write more data to it.
         // Fallback to guessing.
         double timeout = INFINITY;
-        if (p->streaming && !p->paused && !retry) {
+        if (p->streaming && !retry && (!p->paused || ao->stream_silence)) {
             // Wake up again if half of the audio buffer has been played.
             // Since audio could play at a faster or slower pace, wake up twice
             // as often as ideally needed.