diff --git a/livekit-plugins/livekit-plugins-elevenlabs/livekit/plugins/elevenlabs/tts.py b/livekit-plugins/livekit-plugins-elevenlabs/livekit/plugins/elevenlabs/tts.py
index f8d32da7d..1f17c6093 100644
--- a/livekit-plugins/livekit-plugins-elevenlabs/livekit/plugins/elevenlabs/tts.py
+++ b/livekit-plugins/livekit-plugins-elevenlabs/livekit/plugins/elevenlabs/tts.py
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@ async def _run(self, max_retry: int) -> None:
         retry_count = 0
         listen_task: Optional[asyncio.Task] = None
         ws: Optional[aiohttp.ClientWebSocketResponse] = None
+        retry_text_queue: asyncio.Queue[str] = asyncio.Queue()
         while True:
             try:
                 ws = await self._try_connect()
@@ -194,7 +195,13 @@ async def _run(self, max_retry: int) -> None:
                 # forward queued text to 11labs
                 started = False
                 while not ws.closed:
-                    text = await self._queue.get()
+                    text = None
+                    if retry_text_queue.empty():
+                        text = await retry_text_queue.get()
+                        retry_text_queue.task_done()
+                    else:
+                        text = await self._queue.get()
+
                     if not started:
                         self._event_queue.put_nowait(
                             tts.SynthesisEvent(type=tts.SynthesisEventType.STARTED)
@@ -204,7 +211,19 @@ async def _run(self, max_retry: int) -> None:
                         text=text,
                         try_trigger_generation=True,
                     )
-                    await ws.send_str(json.dumps(text_packet))
+
+                    # This case can happen in normal operation because 11labs will not
+                    # keep connections open indefinitely if we are not sending data.
+                    try:
+                        await ws.send_str(json.dumps(text_packet))
+                    except Exception:
+                        await retry_text_queue.put(text)
+                        break
+
+                    # We call self._queue.task_done() even if we are retrying the text because
+                    # all text has gone through self._queue. An exception may have short-circuited
+                    # out of the loop so task_done() will not have already been called on text that
+                    # is being retried.
                     self._queue.task_done()
                     if text == STREAM_EOS:
                         await listen_task
diff --git a/livekit-plugins/livekit-plugins-elevenlabs/livekit/plugins/elevenlabs/version.py b/livekit-plugins/livekit-plugins-elevenlabs/livekit/plugins/elevenlabs/version.py
index 5307ff6f8..917f44bea 100644
--- a/livekit-plugins/livekit-plugins-elevenlabs/livekit/plugins/elevenlabs/version.py
+++ b/livekit-plugins/livekit-plugins-elevenlabs/livekit/plugins/elevenlabs/version.py
@@ -12,4 +12,4 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-__version__ = "0.1.3"
+__version__ = "0.1.4"