diff --git a/pkg/sfu/downtrack.go b/pkg/sfu/downtrack.go
index 751b48a10..c6c965baf 100644
--- a/pkg/sfu/downtrack.go
+++ b/pkg/sfu/downtrack.go
@@ -54,8 +54,7 @@ const (
 	maxPadding = 2000
 
 	waitBeforeSendPaddingOnMute = 100 * time.Millisecond
-	paddingOnMuteInterval       = 100 * time.Millisecond
-	maxPaddingOnMute            = 50
+	maxPaddingOnMuteDuration    = 5 * time.Second
 )
 
 var (
@@ -713,22 +712,6 @@ func (d *DownTrack) handleMute(muted bool, isPub bool, changed bool, maxLayers V
 	if d.onSubscriptionChanged != nil {
 		d.onSubscriptionChanged(d)
 	}
-
-	// when muting, send a few silence frames to ensure residual noise does not
-	// put the comfort noise generator on decoder side in a bad state where it
-	// generates noise that is not so comfortable.
-	//
-	// One possibility is not to inject blank frames when publisher is muted
-	// and let forwarding continue. When publisher is muted, unless the media
-	// stream is stopped, publisher will send silence frames which should have
-	// comfort noise information. But, in case the publisher stops at an
-	// inopportune frame (due to media stream stop or injecting audio from a file),
-	// the decoder could be in a noisy state. So, inject blank frames on publisher
-	// mute too.
-	d.blankFramesGeneration.Inc()
-	if d.kind == webrtc.RTPCodecTypeAudio && muted {
-		d.writeBlankFrameRTP(RTPBlankFramesMuteSeconds, d.blankFramesGeneration.Load())
-	}
 }
 
 func (d *DownTrack) IsClosed() bool {
@@ -1544,10 +1527,12 @@ func (d *DownTrack) GetNackStats() (totalPackets uint32, totalRepeatedNACKs uint
 }
 
 func (d *DownTrack) onBindAndConnected() {
-	if d.connected.Load() && d.bound.Load() && d.kind == webrtc.RTPCodecTypeVideo && !d.bindAndConnectedOnce.Swap(true) {
-		targetLayers := d.forwarder.TargetLayers()
-		if targetLayers != InvalidLayers {
-			d.receiver.SendPLI(targetLayers.Spatial, true)
+	if d.connected.Load() && d.bound.Load() && !d.bindAndConnectedOnce.Swap(true) {
+		if d.kind == webrtc.RTPCodecTypeVideo {
+			targetLayers := d.forwarder.TargetLayers()
+			if targetLayers != InvalidLayers {
+				d.receiver.SendPLI(targetLayers.Spatial, true)
+			}
 		}
 
 		if d.activePaddingOnMuteUpTrack.Load() {
@@ -1561,17 +1546,71 @@ func (d *DownTrack) sendPaddingOnMute() {
 	// let uptrack have chance to send packet before we send padding
 	time.Sleep(waitBeforeSendPaddingOnMute)
 
-	for i := 0; i < maxPaddingOnMute; i++ {
+	if d.kind == webrtc.RTPCodecTypeVideo {
+		d.sendPaddingOnMuteForVideo()
+	} else if d.mime == "audio/opus" {
+		d.sendSilentFrameOnMuteForOpus()
+	}
+}
+
+func (d *DownTrack) sendPaddingOnMuteForVideo() {
+	paddingOnMuteInterval := 100 * time.Millisecond
+	numPackets := maxPaddingOnMuteDuration / paddingOnMuteInterval
+	for i := 0; i < int(numPackets); i++ {
 		if d.rtpStats.IsActive() || d.IsClosed() {
 			return
 		}
-
 		d.WritePaddingRTP(20, true)
-
 		time.Sleep(paddingOnMuteInterval)
 	}
 }
 
+func (d *DownTrack) sendSilentFrameOnMuteForOpus() {
+	frameRate := uint32(50)
+	frameDuration := time.Duration(1000/frameRate) * time.Millisecond
+	numFrames := frameRate * uint32(maxPaddingOnMuteDuration/time.Second)
+	for {
+		if d.rtpStats.IsActive() || d.IsClosed() || numFrames <= 0 {
+			return
+		}
+		snts, _, err := d.forwarder.GetSnTsForBlankFrames(frameRate, 1)
+		if err != nil {
+			d.logger.Warnw("could not get SN/TS for blank frame", err)
+			return
+		}
+		for i := 0; i < len(snts); i++ {
+			hdr := rtp.Header{
+				Version:        2,
+				Padding:        false,
+				Marker:         true,
+				PayloadType:    d.payloadType,
+				SequenceNumber: snts[i].sequenceNumber,
+				Timestamp:      snts[i].timestamp,
+				SSRC:           d.ssrc,
+				CSRC:           []uint32{},
+			}
+
+			err = d.writeRTPHeaderExtensions(&hdr)
+			if err != nil {
+				d.logger.Warnw("could not write header extension for blank frame", err)
+				return
+			}
+
+			payload := make([]byte, len(OpusSilenceFrame))
+			copy(payload[0:], OpusSilenceFrame)
+
+			_, err := d.writeStream.WriteRTP(&hdr, payload)
+			if err != nil {
+				d.logger.Warnw("could not write blank frame", err)
+				return
+			}
+		}
+
+		numFrames--
+		time.Sleep(frameDuration)
+	}
+}
+
 func (d *DownTrack) HandleRTCPSenderReportData(_payloadType webrtc.PayloadType, _layer int32, _srData *buffer.RTCPSenderReportData) error {
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/sfu/forwarder.go b/pkg/sfu/forwarder.go
index 55b43a1f2..8d88ad895 100644
--- a/pkg/sfu/forwarder.go
+++ b/pkg/sfu/forwarder.go
@@ -1462,6 +1462,7 @@ func (f *Forwarder) GetTranslationParams(extPkt *buffer.ExtPacket, layer int32)
 	defer f.lock.Unlock()
 
 	// Video: Do not drop on publisher mute to enable resume on publisher unmute without a key frame.
+	// Audio: Do not drop on publisher mute to ensure decoder does not get stuck at a noise frame.
 	if f.muted {
 		return &TranslationParams{
 			shouldDrop: true,
@@ -1470,13 +1471,6 @@ func (f *Forwarder) GetTranslationParams(extPkt *buffer.ExtPacket, layer int32)
 
 	switch f.kind {
 	case webrtc.RTPCodecTypeAudio:
-		// Audio: Blank frames are injected on publisher mute to ensure decoder does not get stuck at a noise frame. So, do not forward.
-		if f.pubMuted {
-			return &TranslationParams{
-				shouldDrop: true,
-			}, nil
-		}
-
 		return f.getTranslationParamsAudio(extPkt, layer)
 	case webrtc.RTPCodecTypeVideo:
 		return f.getTranslationParamsVideo(extPkt, layer)