diff --git a/engine/client/cl_main.c b/engine/client/cl_main.c
index fb4eada4..e21b52d7 100644
--- a/engine/client/cl_main.c
+++ b/engine/client/cl_main.c
@@ -3139,7 +3139,7 @@ void CL_Init( void )
 
 	VID_Init();	// init video
 	S_Init();	// init sound
-	Voice_Init( VOICE_DEFAULT_CODEC, 3 ); // init voice
+	Voice_Init( VOICE_DEFAULT_CODEC, 3, true ); // init voice (do not open the device)
 
 	// unreliable buffer. unsed for unreliable commands and voice stream
 	MSG_Init( &cls.datagram, "cls.datagram", cls.datagram_buf, sizeof( cls.datagram_buf ));
diff --git a/engine/client/cl_parse.c b/engine/client/cl_parse.c
index b23a7bf3..d61020e1 100644
--- a/engine/client/cl_parse.c
+++ b/engine/client/cl_parse.c
@@ -1778,7 +1778,7 @@ void CL_ParseVoiceInit( sizebuf_t *msg )
 	char *pszCodec = MSG_ReadString( msg );
 	int quality = MSG_ReadByte( msg );
 
-	Voice_Init( pszCodec, quality );
+	Voice_Init( pszCodec, quality, false ); // init requested codec and the device
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/engine/client/voice.c b/engine/client/voice.c
index bfeaca0b..2221297b 100644
--- a/engine/client/voice.c
+++ b/engine/client/voice.c
@@ -428,6 +428,9 @@ void Voice_Disconnect( void )
 			voice.players_status[i].talking_ack = false;
 		}
 	}
+
+	VoiceCapture_Shutdown();
+	voice.device_opened = false;
 }
 
 /*
@@ -588,48 +591,53 @@ Voice_Init
 Initialize the voice subsystem
 =========================
 */
-qboolean Voice_Init( const char *pszCodecName, int quality )
+qboolean Voice_Init( const char *pszCodecName, int quality, qboolean preinit )
 {
 	if( !voice_enable.value )
 		return false;
 
-	if( Q_strcmp( pszCodecName, VOICE_OPUS_CUSTOM_CODEC ))
-	{
-		Con_Printf( S_ERROR "Server requested unsupported codec: %s\n", pszCodecName );
-		return false;
-	}
-
 	// reinitialize only if codec parameters are different
-	if( !Q_strcmp( voice.codec, pszCodecName ) && voice.quality == quality )
-		return true;
-
-	Voice_Shutdown();
-
-	voice.autogain.block_size = 128;
-
-	if( !Voice_InitOpusDecoder( ))
+	if( Q_strcmp( pszCodecName, voice.codec ) || voice.quality != quality )
 	{
-		// no reason to init encoder and open audio device
-		// if we can't hear other players
-		Con_Printf( S_ERROR "Voice chat disabled.\n" );
 		Voice_Shutdown();
-		return false;
+
+		if( Q_strcmp( pszCodecName, VOICE_OPUS_CUSTOM_CODEC ))
+		{
+			Con_Printf( S_ERROR "Server requested unsupported codec: %s\n", pszCodecName );
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		voice.autogain.block_size = 128;
+
+		if( !Voice_InitOpusDecoder( ))
+		{
+			// no reason to init encoder and open audio device
+			// if we can't hear other players
+			Con_Printf( S_ERROR "Voice chat disabled.\n" );
+			Voice_Shutdown();
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		// we can hear others players, so it's fine to fail now
+		voice.initialized = true;
+		Q_strncpy( voice.codec, pszCodecName, sizeof( voice.codec ));
+
+		if( !Voice_InitOpusEncoder( quality ))
+		{
+			Con_Printf( S_WARN "Other players will not be able to hear you.\n" );
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		voice.quality = quality;
 	}
 
-	// we can hear others players, so it's fine to fail now
-	voice.initialized = true;
-	Q_strncpy( voice.codec, pszCodecName, sizeof( voice.codec ));
-
-	if( !Voice_InitOpusEncoder( quality ))
+	if( !preinit )
 	{
-		Con_Printf( S_WARN "Other players will not be able to hear you.\n" );
-		return false;
+		voice.device_opened = VoiceCapture_Init();
+
+		if( !voice.device_opened )
+			Con_Printf( S_WARN "No microphone is available.\n" );
 	}
 
-	voice.quality = quality;
-
-	if( !VoiceCapture_Init( ))
-		Con_Printf( S_WARN "No microphone is available.\n" );
-
 	return true;
 }
diff --git a/engine/client/voice.h b/engine/client/voice.h
index f1d878cb..28746705 100644
--- a/engine/client/voice.h
+++ b/engine/client/voice.h
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ typedef struct voice_state_s
 
 	qboolean initialized;
 	qboolean is_recording;
+	qboolean device_opened;
 	double start_time;
 
 	voice_status_t local;
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ extern voice_state_t voice;
 void CL_AddVoiceToDatagram( void );
 
 void Voice_RegisterCvars( void );
-qboolean Voice_Init( const char *pszCodecName, int quality );
+qboolean Voice_Init( const char *pszCodecName, int quality, qboolean preinit );
 void Voice_Idle( double frametime );
 qboolean Voice_IsRecording( void );
 void Voice_RecordStop( void );