diff --git a/tools/chatgui/src/audiorecorder.cpp b/tools/chatgui/src/audiorecorder.cpp
index 34376ce7..76fef679 100644
--- a/tools/chatgui/src/audiorecorder.cpp
+++ b/tools/chatgui/src/audiorecorder.cpp
@@ -114,13 +114,14 @@ void AudioRecorder::shutdown() {
 void AudioRecorder::startRecording(bool meterOnly) {
     if (m_recording) return;
     if (!m_initialized) { DEBUG_ERROR(DEBUG_CATEGORY_CALL, "recorder: not initialized"); return; }
+    if (!m_microphone.acquire()) { DEBUG_WARN(DEBUG_CATEGORY_CALL, "recorder: microphone owned by another operation"); return; }
     m_pcmBuffer.clear(); m_meterOnly = meterOnly;
     m_captureQueue.reset(); m_captureFailed = false;
     m_recordedFrames = 0; m_elapsedMs = 0; m_peakLevel = 0;
     m_captureCompressorEnabled = !meterOnly && m_compressorEnabled;
     if (m_compressor) {
         if (audio_compressor_configure(m_compressor, &m_compressorConfig) != 0) {
-            DEBUG_ERROR(DEBUG_CATEGORY_MEDIA, "recorder: cannot configure compressor"); return;
+            DEBUG_ERROR(DEBUG_CATEGORY_MEDIA, "recorder: cannot configure compressor"); m_microphone.release(); return;
         }
         audio_compressor_set_enabled(m_compressor, m_captureCompressorEnabled);
         audio_compressor_reset(m_compressor);
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ void AudioRecorder::startRecording(bool meterOnly) {
     try { m_recordWorker = std::thread(&AudioRecorder::recordLoop, this); }
     catch (const std::system_error& error) {
         m_workerRunning = false;
-        DEBUG_ERROR(DEBUG_CATEGORY_MEDIA, "recorder: worker start failed reason=%s", error.what()); return;
+        DEBUG_ERROR(DEBUG_CATEGORY_MEDIA, "recorder: worker start failed reason=%s", error.what()); m_microphone.release(); return;
     }
     m_recording = true;
     m_capture.retryNow();
@@ -173,6 +174,7 @@ void AudioRecorder::stopRecording() {
     m_capture.close();
     m_workerRunning = false; m_wake.notify_one();
     if (m_recordWorker.joinable()) m_recordWorker.join();
+    m_microphone.release();
     m_elapsedMs = (int)(m_recordedFrames.load() * 1000 / m_sampleRate);
     int duration = m_elapsedMs;
     size_t samples = m_compressor && m_captureCompressorEnabled ? audio_compressor_output_size(m_compressor) : m_pcmBuffer.size();
diff --git a/tools/chatgui/src/audiorecorder.h b/tools/chatgui/src/audiorecorder.h
index 992b0136..122bc5c7 100644
--- a/tools/chatgui/src/audiorecorder.h
+++ b/tools/chatgui/src/audiorecorder.h
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 #include <cstdint>
 #include "audio_device.h"
+#include "audio_capture_lease.h"
 #include "audio_event_queue.h"
 #include <thread>
 #include <mutex>
@@ -53,6 +54,7 @@ signals:
 
 private:
     AudioDevice m_capture;
+    AudioCaptureLease m_microphone;
     QTimer m_recoveryTimer;
     void recoverCapture();
     void captureCallback(const void* input, unsigned int frames);