diff --git a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-sink.c b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-sink.c
index 9182653df..89b5a735c 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-sink.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-sink.c
@@ -273,6 +273,7 @@ static const struct spa_dict_item node_info_items[] = {
 	{ SPA_KEY_DEVICE_API, "alsa" },
 	{ SPA_KEY_MEDIA_CLASS, "Audio/Sink" },
 	{ SPA_KEY_NODE_DRIVER, "true" },
+	{ SPA_KEY_NODE_PAUSE_ON_IDLE, "false" },
 };
 
 static void emit_node_info(struct state *this, bool full)
diff --git a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-source.c b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-source.c
index 22b4a3069..9535fa1b3 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-source.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-source.c
@@ -275,6 +275,7 @@ static const struct spa_dict_item node_info_items[] = {
 	{ SPA_KEY_DEVICE_API, "alsa" },
 	{ SPA_KEY_MEDIA_CLASS, "Audio/Source" },
 	{ SPA_KEY_NODE_DRIVER, "true" },
+	{ SPA_KEY_NODE_PAUSE_ON_IDLE, "false" },
 };
 
 static void emit_node_info(struct state *this, bool full)
diff --git a/src/daemon/media-session.d/alsa-monitor.conf b/src/daemon/media-session.d/alsa-monitor.conf
index 01cde4e6d..ff4cf8b82 100644
--- a/src/daemon/media-session.d/alsa-monitor.conf
+++ b/src/daemon/media-session.d/alsa-monitor.conf
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ rules = [
                 #node.nick = 			null
                 #priority.driver = 		100
                 #priority.session = 		100
-                #node.pause-on-idle = 		true
+                #node.pause-on-idle = 		false
                 #resample.quality = 		4
                 #channelmix.normalize =		false
                 #channelmix.mix-lfe = 		false