diff --git a/src/switch_rtp.c b/src/switch_rtp.c
index b84795b91b..b8da56b984 100644
--- a/src/switch_rtp.c
+++ b/src/switch_rtp.c
@@ -3042,8 +3042,10 @@ SWITCH_DECLARE(switch_status_t) switch_rtp_add_crypto_key(switch_rtp_t *rtp_sess
 	memset(policy, 0, sizeof(*policy));
 
 	/* many devices can't handle gaps in SRTP streams */
-	if (!(var = switch_channel_get_variable(channel, "send_silence_when_idle"))
-		|| !(atoi(var))) {
+	if (!((var = switch_channel_get_variable(channel, "force_send_silence_when_idle"))
+		  && switch_true(var))
+		&& (!(var = switch_channel_get_variable(channel, "send_silence_when_idle"))
+			|| !(atoi(var)))) {
 		switch_channel_set_variable(channel, "send_silence_when_idle", "-1");
 	}