diff --git a/examples/stream/stream.cpp b/examples/stream/stream.cpp
index 37b23886821..6d496f39e91 100644
--- a/examples/stream/stream.cpp
+++ b/examples/stream/stream.cpp
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <thread>
 #include <vector>
+#include <atomic>
+#include <iostream>
 
 // command-line parameters
 struct whisper_params {
@@ -37,6 +39,7 @@ struct whisper_params {
     bool save_audio    = false; // save audio to wav file
     bool use_gpu       = true;
     bool flash_attn    = false;
+    bool pausable      = false;
 
     std::string language  = "en";
     std::string model     = "models/ggml-base.en.bin";
@@ -74,6 +77,7 @@ static bool whisper_params_parse(int argc, char ** argv, whisper_params & params
         else if (arg == "-sa"   || arg == "--save-audio")    { params.save_audio    = true; }
         else if (arg == "-ng"   || arg == "--no-gpu")        { params.use_gpu       = false; }
         else if (arg == "-fa"   || arg == "--flash-attn")    { params.flash_attn    = true; }
+        else if (arg == "-p"    || arg == "--pausable")      { params.pausable      = true; }
 
         else {
             fprintf(stderr, "error: unknown argument: %s\n", arg.c_str());
@@ -112,6 +116,7 @@ void whisper_print_usage(int /*argc*/, char ** argv, const whisper_params & para
     fprintf(stderr, "  -sa,      --save-audio    [%-7s] save the recorded audio to a file\n",              params.save_audio ? "true" : "false");
     fprintf(stderr, "  -ng,      --no-gpu        [%-7s] disable GPU inference\n",                          params.use_gpu ? "false" : "true");
     fprintf(stderr, "  -fa,      --flash-attn    [%-7s] flash attention during inference\n",               params.flash_attn ? "true" : "false");
+    fprintf(stderr, "  -p,       --pausable      [%-7s] allow stdin commands p,r (PAUSE)/(RESUME)\n",      params.pausable ? "true" : "false");
     fprintf(stderr, "\n");
 }
 
@@ -206,7 +211,9 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
 
     int n_iter = 0;
 
-    bool is_running = true;
+    std::atomic_bool is_running(true);
+    std::atomic_bool is_paused(false);
+    std::atomic_int  control_state(0); // 1 - pause, 2 - resume
 
     std::ofstream fout;
     if (params.fname_out.length() > 0) {
@@ -231,6 +238,26 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
     printf("[Start speaking]\n");
     fflush(stdout);
 
+    std::thread control_thread;
+    if (params.pausable) {
+        control_thread = std::thread([&]() {
+            std::string line;
+            while (is_running) {
+                if (!std::getline(std::cin, line)) {
+                    break;
+                }
+
+                if (line == "p") {
+                    control_state = 1;
+                } else if (line == "r") {
+                    control_state = 2;
+                } else {
+                    fprintf(stderr, "[ERROR] Only 'p' (pause), 'r' (resume) accepted]\n");
+                }
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
     auto t_last  = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
     const auto t_start = t_last;
 
@@ -246,6 +273,35 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
             break;
         }
 
+        if (params.pausable) {
+            int st = control_state.exchange(0);
+            if (st == 1 && !is_paused) {
+                audio.clear();
+                audio.pause();
+
+                params.no_context = true;
+
+                pcmf32.clear();
+                pcmf32_new.clear();
+                pcmf32_old.clear();
+                prompt_tokens.clear();
+                is_paused = true;
+                whisper_reset_timings(ctx);
+            } else if (st == 2 && is_paused) {
+                audio.resume();
+                audio.clear();
+                whisper_reset_timings(ctx);
+                is_paused = false;
+                t_last = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
+            }
+
+            if (is_paused) {
+                std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(100));
+                t_last = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
+                continue;
+            }
+        }
+
         // process new audio
 
         if (!use_vad) {
@@ -431,5 +487,8 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
     whisper_print_timings(ctx);
     whisper_free(ctx);
 
+    if (control_thread.joinable())
+        control_thread.join();
+
     return 0;
 }