diff --git a/apps/bot/src/metame-owner-voice-bridge.ts b/apps/bot/src/metame-owner-voice-bridge.ts
index 374743e..5db17a5 100644
--- a/apps/bot/src/metame-owner-voice-bridge.ts
+++ b/apps/bot/src/metame-owner-voice-bridge.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import {
   type RepoDiscordIdentityRegistry,
   WeksaSpeechClient,
 } from "@voidbot/core";
+import { ChannelType } from "discord.js";
 import type { Message } from "discord.js";
 
 const METAME_VOICE_DESIGN_PROMPT = [
@@ -53,6 +54,12 @@ export async function maybeMirrorOwnerAquariumMessageAsMetameVoice(input: {
     console.warn(`Skipped Metame owner voice bridge: ${metame.id} is not allowed in channel ${message.channelId}.`);
     return;
   }
+  if (!(await hasHumanListenerInAquariumVoice(message, config.repoFaceDiscordVoice.channelId))) {
+    console.log(
+      `Skipped Metame owner voice bridge for message ${message.id}: no human listeners in configured Aquarium voice channel.`,
+    );
+    return;
+  }
 
   await appendMetameOwnerVoiceState({
     statePath: config.metameOwnerVoice.statePath,
@@ -170,3 +177,23 @@ async function appendMetameOwnerVoiceState(input: {
   ].join("\n");
   await appendFile(input.statePath, `${header}${entry}`, "utf8");
 }
+
+async function hasHumanListenerInAquariumVoice(
+  message: Message,
+  voiceChannelId: string | undefined,
+): Promise<boolean> {
+  if (!message.guild || !voiceChannelId) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  const channel = await message.guild.channels.fetch(voiceChannelId).catch((error) => {
+    const detail = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
+    console.warn(`Could not inspect Aquarium voice channel ${voiceChannelId}: ${detail}`);
+    return null;
+  });
+  if (!channel || (channel.type !== ChannelType.GuildVoice && channel.type !== ChannelType.GuildStageVoice)) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  return channel.members.some((member) => !member.user.bot);
+}
diff --git a/apps/bot/src/repo-face-voice-playback.ts b/apps/bot/src/repo-face-voice-playback.ts
index e980d2e..546cd6e 100644
--- a/apps/bot/src/repo-face-voice-playback.ts
+++ b/apps/bot/src/repo-face-voice-playback.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import {
   type AudioPlayer,
   type VoiceConnection,
 } from "@discordjs/voice";
-import { ChannelType, type Client, type GuildBasedChannel } from "discord.js";
+import { ChannelType, type Client, type VoiceBasedChannel } from "discord.js";
 
 import {
   appendRepoFaceVoicePlayedEntry,
@@ -88,6 +88,12 @@ class RepoFaceVoicePlaybackRuntime {
     this.active = true;
     try {
       const channel = await this.resolveVoiceChannel();
+      if (!hasHumanListener(channel)) {
+        console.log(
+          `Skipped repo Face voice playback for ${entry.id}: no human listeners in channel ${this.options.channelId}.`,
+        );
+        return;
+      }
       const connection = await this.ensureConnection(channel);
       const resource = createAudioResource(entry.audioPath, {
         metadata: entry,
@@ -108,7 +114,7 @@ class RepoFaceVoicePlaybackRuntime {
     }
   }
 
-  private async resolveVoiceChannel(): Promise<GuildBasedChannel> {
+  private async resolveVoiceChannel(): Promise<VoiceBasedChannel> {
     const channel = await this.client.channels.fetch(this.options.channelId!);
     if (!channel || !("guild" in channel)) {
       throw new Error(`Configured voice channel ${this.options.channelId} was not found in a guild.`);
@@ -119,7 +125,7 @@ class RepoFaceVoicePlaybackRuntime {
     return channel;
   }
 
-  private async ensureConnection(channel: GuildBasedChannel): Promise<VoiceConnection> {
+  private async ensureConnection(channel: VoiceBasedChannel): Promise<VoiceConnection> {
     if (
       this.connection &&
       this.connection.joinConfig.channelId === channel.id &&
@@ -136,7 +142,17 @@ class RepoFaceVoicePlaybackRuntime {
       adapterCreator: channel.guild.voiceAdapterCreator,
       selfDeaf: false,
     });
+    this.connection.on("error", (error) => {
+      console.warn(`Repo Face voice connection error in channel ${channel.id}: ${error.message}`);
+      this.connection?.destroy();
+      this.connection = undefined;
+      this.active = false;
+    });
     await entersState(this.connection, VoiceConnectionStatus.Ready, 30_000);
     return this.connection;
   }
 }
+
+function hasHumanListener(channel: VoiceBasedChannel): boolean {
+  return channel.members.some((member) => !member.user.bot);
+}
diff --git a/state/evidence.jsonl b/state/evidence.jsonl
index b4eeed2..8ce5ed8 100644
--- a/state/evidence.jsonl
+++ b/state/evidence.jsonl
@@ -357,3 +357,4 @@
 {"ts":"2026-06-12T18:12:19Z","type":"implementation","status":"ok","note":"Added owner-authorized Aquarium-to-Metame voice bridge: owner messages in Aquarium can be mirrored exactly through shared Weksa/MiMo speech rendering, persisted to a Weksa-readable Metame voice-sync projection, and queued into the existing Discord voice outbox."}
 {"ts":"2026-06-13T08:34:42Z","type":"implementation","status":"ok","note":"Created native Moobs Persona CultCache state at .voidbot/private/personas/moobs/moobs.cc from D:/Downloads/Moobs.txt; Moobs remains outside repo Face/swarm registries and is for iVixey's separate Discord."}
 {"ts":"2026-06-13T12:09:58Z","type":"verification","status":"ok","note":"2026-06-13 local moderation heartbeat was re-enabled by setting VOIDBOT_MODERATION_HEARTBEAT_ENABLED=true while VOID_MODERATION_ENFORCEMENT_MODE=policy. A direct ModerationHeartbeatOnly pass completed ok in policy mode, observed 0 new messages past cursor 2026-06-12T18:40:31.845Z, proposed/applied 0 operations, and left openCaseCount=0."}
+{"ts":"2026-06-13T19:11:52Z","type":"implementation","status":"ok","note":"Disabled Metame owner voice locally and hardened the voice path: when re-enabled, owner Aquarium text only renders through Weksa if the configured Aquarium voice channel currently has a non-bot listener; playback also skips empty voice channels and logs connection errors instead of crashing the bot."}