diff --git a/examples/stream/stream.cpp b/examples/stream/stream.cpp
index 94f9016e075..a1cc8f0de35 100644
--- a/examples/stream/stream.cpp
+++ b/examples/stream/stream.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ struct whisper_params {
     bool save_audio    = false; // save audio to wav file
     bool use_gpu       = true;
     bool flash_attn    = true;
+    int  file_mode     = 0; // 0=raw, 1=newline
 
     std::string language  = "en";
     std::string model     = "models/ggml-base.en.bin";
@@ -45,6 +46,23 @@ struct whisper_params {
 
 void whisper_print_usage(int argc, char ** argv, const whisper_params & params);
 
+// no helpers needed for file write modes when using raw/newline only
+
+static int file_mode_from_string(const std::string & mode) {
+    if (mode == "raw")     return 0;
+    if (mode == "newline") return 1;
+    fprintf(stderr, "error: unknown --file-mode '%s' (expected: raw|newline)\n", mode.c_str());
+    exit(1);
+}
+
+static const char * file_mode_to_cstr(int mode) {
+    switch (mode) {
+        case 0: return "raw";
+        case 1: return "newline";
+        default: return "raw";
+    }
+}
+
 static bool whisper_params_parse(int argc, char ** argv, whisper_params & params) {
     for (int i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
         std::string arg = argv[i];
@@ -70,6 +88,7 @@ static bool whisper_params_parse(int argc, char ** argv, whisper_params & params
         else if (arg == "-l"    || arg == "--language")      { params.language      = argv[++i]; }
         else if (arg == "-m"    || arg == "--model")         { params.model         = argv[++i]; }
         else if (arg == "-f"    || arg == "--file")          { params.fname_out     = argv[++i]; }
+        else if (                  arg == "--file-mode")      { params.file_mode = file_mode_from_string(argv[++i]); }
         else if (arg == "-tdrz" || arg == "--tinydiarize")   { params.tinydiarize   = true; }
         else if (arg == "-sa"   || arg == "--save-audio")    { params.save_audio    = true; }
         else if (arg == "-ng"   || arg == "--no-gpu")        { params.use_gpu       = false; }
@@ -109,6 +128,7 @@ void whisper_print_usage(int /*argc*/, char ** argv, const whisper_params & para
     fprintf(stderr, "  -l LANG,  --language LANG [%-7s] spoken language\n",                                params.language.c_str());
     fprintf(stderr, "  -m FNAME, --model FNAME   [%-7s] model path\n",                                     params.model.c_str());
     fprintf(stderr, "  -f FNAME, --file FNAME    [%-7s] text output file name\n",                          params.fname_out.c_str());
+    fprintf(stderr, "            --file-mode MODE [%-7s] file write mode: raw|newline (default raw)\n", file_mode_to_cstr(params.file_mode));
     fprintf(stderr, "  -tdrz,    --tinydiarize   [%-7s] enable tinydiarize (requires a tdrz model)\n",     params.tinydiarize ? "true" : "false");
     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");
@@ -211,6 +231,7 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
     bool is_running = true;
 
     std::ofstream fout;
+    std::string file_buffer;
     if (params.fname_out.length() > 0) {
         fout.open(params.fname_out);
         if (!fout.is_open()) {
@@ -231,6 +252,11 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
         wavWriter.open(filename, WHISPER_SAMPLE_RATE, 16, 1);
     }
     printf("[Start speaking]\n");
+    if (params.fname_out.length() > 0) {
+        // Mirror the start signal into the file for parity with stdout
+        fout << "[Start speaking]\n";
+        fout.flush();
+    }
     fflush(stdout);
 
     auto t_last  = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
@@ -345,6 +371,10 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
 
             // print result;
             {
+                if (params.fname_out.length() > 0 && (params.file_mode != 0)) {
+                    file_buffer.clear();
+                }
+
                 if (!use_vad) {
                     printf("\33[2K\r");
 
@@ -370,7 +400,11 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
                         fflush(stdout);
 
                         if (params.fname_out.length() > 0) {
-                            fout << text;
+                            if (params.file_mode != 0) {
+                                file_buffer += text;
+                            } else {
+                                fout << text;
+                            }
                         }
                     } else {
                         const int64_t t0 = whisper_full_get_segment_t0(ctx, i);
@@ -388,13 +422,21 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
                         fflush(stdout);
 
                         if (params.fname_out.length() > 0) {
-                            fout << output;
+                            if (params.file_mode != 0) {
+                                file_buffer += output;
+                            } else {
+                                fout << output;
+                            }
                         }
                     }
                 }
 
                 if (params.fname_out.length() > 0) {
-                    fout << std::endl;
+                    if (params.file_mode != 0) {
+                        file_buffer.push_back('\n');
+                    } else {
+                        fout << std::endl;
+                    }
                 }
 
                 if (use_vad) {
@@ -405,6 +447,16 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
 
             ++n_iter;
 
+            if ((params.file_mode != 0) && params.fname_out.length() > 0) {
+                if (use_vad || (!use_vad && (n_iter % n_new_line) == 0)) {
+                    if (!file_buffer.empty()) {
+                        fout << file_buffer;
+                        fout.flush();
+                        file_buffer.clear();
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
             if (!use_vad && (n_iter % n_new_line) == 0) {
                 printf("\n");
 
@@ -430,6 +482,12 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
 
     audio.pause();
 
+    if ((params.file_mode != 0) && params.fname_out.length() > 0 && !file_buffer.empty()) {
+        fout << file_buffer;
+        fout.flush();
+        file_buffer.clear();
+    }
+
     whisper_print_timings(ctx);
     whisper_free(ctx);