diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/speech.c b/src/libespeak-ng/speech.c
index fff78941..c666e9f1 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/speech.c
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/speech.c
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include <ctype.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <locale.h>
+#include <stdbool.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
@@ -382,7 +383,8 @@ static espeak_ng_STATUS Synthesize(unsigned int unique_identifier, const void *t
 	SpeakNextClause(NULL, text, 0);
 
 	if (my_mode == (ENOUTPUT_MODE_SYNCHRONOUS | ENOUTPUT_MODE_SPEAK_AUDIO)) {
-		for (;;) {
+		bool continue_speaking = true;
+		while (continue_speaking) {
 #ifdef PLATFORM_WINDOWS
 			Sleep(300); // 0.3s
 #else
@@ -396,8 +398,15 @@ static espeak_ng_STATUS Synthesize(unsigned int unique_identifier, const void *t
 			sleep(1);
 #endif
 #endif
-			if (SynthOnTimer() != 0)
-				break;
+			do {
+				if (WcmdqUsed() > 0)
+					WavegenOpenSound();
+
+				if (Generate(phoneme_list, &n_phoneme_list, 1) == 0) {
+					if (SpeakNextClause(NULL, NULL, 1) == 0)
+						continue_speaking = WavegenCloseSound() == 0;
+				}
+			} while (skipping_text);
 		}
 		return ENS_OK;
 	}
diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/synthesize.c b/src/libespeak-ng/synthesize.c
index 4723dd3f..5a5e3433 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/synthesize.c
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/synthesize.c
@@ -1530,21 +1530,6 @@ int Generate(PHONEME_LIST *phoneme_list, int *n_ph, int resume)
 	return 0; // finished the phoneme list
 }
 
-int SynthOnTimer()
-{
-	do {
-		if (WcmdqUsed() > 0)
-			WavegenOpenSound();
-
-		if (Generate(phoneme_list, &n_phoneme_list, 1) == 0) {
-			if (SpeakNextClause(NULL, NULL, 1) == 0)
-				return WavegenCloseSound();
-		}
-	} while (skipping_text);
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
 int SpeakNextClause(FILE *f_in, const void *text_in, int control)
 {
 	// Speak text from file (f_in) or memory (text_in)
diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/synthesize.h b/src/libespeak-ng/synthesize.h
index feb47162..d0d1a4b0 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/synthesize.h
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/synthesize.h
@@ -502,7 +502,6 @@ espeak_ng_STATUS LoadPhData(int *srate, espeak_ng_ERROR_CONTEXT *context);
 void SynthesizeInit(void);
 int  Generate(PHONEME_LIST *phoneme_list, int *n_ph, int resume);
 void MakeWave2(PHONEME_LIST *p, int n_ph);
-int  SynthOnTimer(void);
 int  SpeakNextClause(FILE *f_text, const void *text_in, int control);
 void SetSpeed(int control);
 void SetEmbedded(int control, int value);