diff --git a/src/transcriber.rs b/src/transcriber.rs
index dab30e2..77e2c8c 100644
--- a/src/transcriber.rs
+++ b/src/transcriber.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use std::path::Path;
 
 use whisper_rs::{
-    FullParams, SamplingStrategy, WhisperContext, WhisperContextParameters,
+    FullParams, SamplingStrategy, WhisperContext, WhisperContextParameters, WhisperState,
 };
 
 use crate::{
@@ -9,14 +9,28 @@ use crate::{
     AppError, Result,
 };
 
-/// Wraps a loaded whisper.cpp context.
-/// `WhisperContext` is `Send` but **not** `Sync` — keep it on the worker thread.
+/// Wraps a loaded whisper.cpp context and a single reusable inference state.
+///
+/// `WhisperState` allocates ~700 MB of GPU compute buffers (KV caches, CUDA
+/// workspace) via `whisper_init_state`. Creating a new state for every chunk
+/// causes repeated GPU re-initialisation and VRAM allocation churn, which
+/// manifests as intermittent CUDA allocation failures → 0 segments returned.
+///
+/// By creating the state once at load time and reusing it, GPU memory is
+/// stable and inference is reliable across all chunks.
+///
+/// Safety: `WhisperState` is `Send + Sync` (explicitly declared in whisper-rs).
+/// This struct lives on the single `whisper-gpu` OS thread and is never shared.
 pub struct Transcriber {
-    ctx: WhisperContext,
+    // WhisperContext is not stored after load: WhisperState holds its own
+    // Arc<WhisperInnerContext>, so the model weights remain in memory for
+    // the lifetime of the state even after the originating context is dropped.
+    state: WhisperState,
 }
 
 impl Transcriber {
     /// Load a GGML model file and configure GPU for RTX 2080.
+    /// Creates the inference state immediately so GPU buffers are allocated once.
     pub fn load(model_path: impl AsRef<Path>, gpu_device: u32) -> Result<Self> {
         let path = model_path.as_ref().to_str().ok_or_else(|| {
             AppError::Internal("model path is not valid UTF-8".into())
@@ -32,21 +46,28 @@ impl Transcriber {
         let ctx = WhisperContext::new_with_params(path, params)
             .map_err(|e| AppError::Internal(format!("failed to load model: {e}")))?;
 
+        let state = ctx.create_state()
+            .map_err(|e| AppError::Internal(format!("failed to create whisper state: {e}")))?;
+        // ctx drops here; state holds Arc<WhisperInnerContext> so model stays loaded.
+
         tracing::info!(model = path, "whisper model loaded");
-        Ok(Self { ctx })
+        Ok(Self { state })
     }
 
     /// Transcribe 16 kHz mono f32 PCM samples.
     /// `on_progress` receives 0–100 from whisper.cpp.
+    ///
+    /// The inference state (`self.state`) is reused across calls. GPU compute
+    /// buffers remain allocated, eliminating per-chunk `whisper_init_state` overhead.
+    /// `no_context=true` in the params prevents KV-cache contamination between chunks.
     pub fn transcribe(
-        &self,
+        &mut self,
         pcm:         &[f32],
         language:    Option<&str>,
         task:        &str,
         on_progress: impl Fn(u8) + Send + 'static,
     ) -> Result<(Vec<Segment>, String)> {
-        let mut state = self.ctx.create_state()
-            .map_err(|e| AppError::Internal(format!("create_state: {e}")))?;
+        let state = &mut self.state;
 
         let mut fp = FullParams::new(SamplingStrategy::BeamSearch {
             beam_size: 5,
diff --git a/src/worker.rs b/src/worker.rs
index 6942cb7..478a1e7 100644
--- a/src/worker.rs
+++ b/src/worker.rs
@@ -68,12 +68,17 @@ pub fn start(
 }
 
 /// Dedicated OS thread that owns the Transcriber (non-Send) and runs inference.
+///
+/// The Transcriber holds a single `WhisperState` that is reused for every chunk.
+/// GPU compute buffers (~700 MB) are allocated once at startup rather than on
+/// every call, eliminating per-chunk `whisper_init_state` overhead and the
+/// VRAM churn that caused intermittent 0-segment results.
 fn transcriber_thread(
     rx:         std::sync::mpsc::Receiver<TranscribeRequest>,
     model_path: PathBuf,
     gpu_device: u32,
 ) {
-    let transcriber = match Transcriber::load(&model_path, gpu_device) {
+    let mut transcriber = match Transcriber::load(&model_path, gpu_device) {
         Ok(t)  => t,
         Err(e) => {
             tracing::error!(error = %e, "failed to load whisper model — transcriber thread exiting");