diff --git a/src/helpers/audio.ts b/src/helpers/audio.ts
index 2a6aad3c4..5b9ae5150 100644
--- a/src/helpers/audio.ts
+++ b/src/helpers/audio.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ async function nodejsPlayAudio(stream: NodeJS.ReadableStream | Response | File):
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     try {
       const ffplay = spawn('ffplay', ['-autoexit', '-nodisp', '-i', 'pipe:0']);
+      ffplay.on('error', reject);
 
       let source: NodeJS.ReadableStream;
       if (isResponse(stream)) {
diff --git a/tests/helpers/audio.test.ts b/tests/helpers/audio.test.ts
index 6c2a3be87..c0401fdb9 100644
--- a/tests/helpers/audio.test.ts
+++ b/tests/helpers/audio.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 jest.mock('node:child_process', () => ({ spawn: jest.fn() }));
 
 import { spawn } from 'node:child_process';
+import { EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
 import { Readable, Writable } from 'node:stream';
 import { playAudio } from 'openai/helpers/audio';
 
@@ -72,4 +73,22 @@ describe('playAudio', () => {
 
     expect(ffplay.kill).toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
+
+  it('rejects when ffplay cannot be spawned', async () => {
+    const ffplay = Object.assign(new EventEmitter(), {
+      stdin: new Writable({
+        write(_chunk, _encoding, callback) {
+          callback();
+        },
+      }),
+      kill: jest.fn(),
+    });
+    spawnMock.mockReturnValue(ffplay as any);
+
+    const promise = playAudio(Readable.from(['hello']));
+    const error = new Error('spawn ffplay ENOENT');
+
+    expect(() => ffplay.emit('error', error)).not.toThrow();
+    await expect(promise).rejects.toBe(error);
+  });
 });