diff --git a/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-aac.c b/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-aac.c
index e2c6aed18..1195def30 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-aac.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-aac.c
@@ -493,7 +493,7 @@ static int codec_encode(void *data,
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	*dst_out = out_args.numOutBytes;
-	*need_flush = 1;
+	*need_flush = NEED_FLUSH_ALL;
 
 	/* RFC6416: It is set to 1 to indicate that the RTP packet contains a complete
    	 * audioMuxElement or the last fragment of an audioMuxElement */
diff --git a/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-aptx.c b/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-aptx.c
index 7249d50ad..9a80134fd 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-aptx.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-aptx.c
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ static int codec_encode(void *data,
 
 	avail_dst_size = (this->max_frames - this->frame_count) * this->frame_length;
 	if (SPA_UNLIKELY(dst_size < avail_dst_size)) {
-		*need_flush = 1;
+		*need_flush = NEED_FLUSH_ALL;
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -414,7 +414,7 @@ static int codec_encode(void *data,
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	this->frame_count += *dst_out / this->frame_length;
-	*need_flush = this->frame_count >= this->max_frames;
+	*need_flush = (this->frame_count >= this->max_frames) ? NEED_FLUSH_ALL : NEED_FLUSH_NO;
 	return res;
 }
 
diff --git a/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-faststream.c b/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-faststream.c
index 681725ae0..ddcf331d6 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-faststream.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-faststream.c
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ static int codec_encode(void *data,
 	}
 
 	this->frame_count += res / this->codesize;
-	*need_flush = this->frame_count >= this->max_frames;
+	*need_flush = (this->frame_count >= this->max_frames) ? NEED_FLUSH_ALL : NEED_FLUSH_NO;
 	return res;
 }
 
diff --git a/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-ldac.c b/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-ldac.c
index 946ee7477..ee6bc2ebf 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-ldac.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-ldac.c
@@ -565,7 +565,7 @@ static int codec_encode(void *data,
 	*dst_out = dst_used;
 
 	this->payload->frame_count += frame_num;
-	*need_flush = this->payload->frame_count > 0;
+	*need_flush = (this->payload->frame_count > 0) ? NEED_FLUSH_ALL : NEED_FLUSH_NO;
 
 	return src_used;
 }
diff --git a/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-sbc.c b/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-sbc.c
index 6da9af70b..6a43c666a 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-sbc.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codec-sbc.c
@@ -605,7 +605,7 @@ static int codec_encode(void *data,
 	spa_assert(res == this->codesize);
 
 	this->payload->frame_count += res / this->codesize;
-	*need_flush = this->payload->frame_count >= this->max_frames;
+	*need_flush = (this->payload->frame_count >= this->max_frames) ? NEED_FLUSH_ALL : NEED_FLUSH_NO;
 	return res;
 }
 
diff --git a/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codecs.h b/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codecs.h
index 672bcc080..bd041b29e 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codecs.h
+++ b/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-codecs.h
@@ -66,6 +66,12 @@ extern const char *codec_plugin_factory_name;
 #define A2DP_CODEC_DEFAULT_RATE		48000
 #define A2DP_CODEC_DEFAULT_CHANNELS	2
 
+enum {
+	NEED_FLUSH_NO = 0,
+	NEED_FLUSH_ALL = 1,
+	NEED_FLUSH_FRAGMENT = 2,
+};
+
 struct a2dp_codec_audio_info {
 	uint32_t rate;
 	uint32_t channels;
diff --git a/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-sink.c b/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-sink.c
index 3c1ab5007..4460695bf 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-sink.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/bluez5/a2dp-sink.c
@@ -157,6 +157,8 @@ struct impl {
 	struct spa_audio_info codec_format;
 
 	int need_flush;
+	bool fragment;
+	uint64_t fragment_timeout;
 	uint32_t block_size;
 	uint8_t buffer[BUFFER_SIZE];
 	uint32_t buffer_used;
@@ -436,6 +438,7 @@ static int reset_buffer(struct impl *this)
 	}
 	this->need_flush = 0;
 	this->frame_count = 0;
+	this->fragment = false;
 	this->buffer_used = this->codec->start_encode(this->codec_data,
 			this->buffer, sizeof(this->buffer),
 			this->seqnum++, this->timestamp);
@@ -533,6 +536,37 @@ static int encode_buffer(struct impl *this, const void *data, uint32_t size)
 	return processed;
 }
 
+static int encode_fragment(struct impl *this)
+{
+	int res;
+	size_t out_encoded;
+	struct port *port = &this->port;
+
+	spa_log_trace(this->log, "%p: encode fragment used %d, %d %d %d",
+			this, this->buffer_used, port->frame_size, this->block_size,
+			this->frame_count);
+
+	if (this->need_flush)
+		return 0;
+
+	res = this->codec->encode(this->codec_data,
+				NULL, 0,
+				this->buffer + this->buffer_used,
+				sizeof(this->buffer) - this->buffer_used,
+				&out_encoded, &this->need_flush);
+	if (res < 0)
+		return res;
+	if (res != 0)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	this->buffer_used += out_encoded;
+
+	spa_log_trace(this->log, "%p: processed fragment %zd used %d",
+			this, out_encoded, this->buffer_used);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static int flush_buffer(struct impl *this)
 {
 	spa_log_trace(this->log, "%p: used:%d block_size:%d", this,
@@ -596,6 +630,15 @@ static int flush_data(struct impl *this, uint64_t now_time)
 	total_frames = 0;
 again:
 	written = 0;
+	if (this->fragment && !this->need_flush) {
+		int res;
+		this->fragment = false;
+		if ((res = encode_fragment(this)) < 0) {
+			/* Error */
+			reset_buffer(this);
+			return res;
+		}
+	}
 	while (!spa_list_is_empty(&port->ready) && !this->need_flush) {
 		uint8_t *src;
 		uint32_t n_bytes, n_frames;
@@ -706,6 +749,17 @@ again:
 		uint64_t timeout = (quantum > max_excess) ?
 			(packet_time * (quantum - max_excess) / quantum) : 0;
 
+		if (this->need_flush == NEED_FLUSH_FRAGMENT) {
+			reset_buffer(this);
+			this->fragment = true;
+			this->fragment_timeout = (packet_samples > 0) ? timeout : this->fragment_timeout;
+			goto again;
+		}
+		if (this->fragment_timeout > 0) {
+			timeout = this->fragment_timeout;
+			this->fragment_timeout = 0;
+		}
+
 		reset_buffer(this);
 		if (now_time - this->last_error > SPA_NSEC_PER_SEC) {
 			if (get_transport_unused_size(this) == (int)this->fd_buffer_size) {