diff --git a/cli-config.yaml.example b/cli-config.yaml.example
index d1ce3b08e2..3ee047cd5d 100644
--- a/cli-config.yaml.example
+++ b/cli-config.yaml.example
@@ -1129,6 +1129,7 @@ stt:
     # language: ""             # auto-detect; set to "en", "es", "fr", etc. to force
   openai:
     model: "whisper-1"         # whisper-1 | gpt-4o-mini-transcribe | gpt-4o-transcribe
+    language: ""               # auto-detect; set to "en", "es", "fr", etc. to force
   # mistral:
   #   model: "voxtral-mini-latest"  # voxtral-mini-latest | voxtral-mini-2602
   # deepinfra:
diff --git a/hermes_cli/config.py b/hermes_cli/config.py
index 3e8b6e5f07..a250141103 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/config.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/config.py
@@ -2328,6 +2328,7 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
         },
         "openai": {
             "model": "whisper-1",  # whisper-1, gpt-4o-mini-transcribe, gpt-4o-transcribe
+            "language": "",  # auto-detect by default; set to "en", "es", "fr", etc. to force
         },
         "mistral": {
             "model": "voxtral-mini-latest",  # voxtral-mini-latest, voxtral-mini-2602
diff --git a/tests/tools/test_transcription.py b/tests/tools/test_transcription.py
index 84f6c9679a..669b28e302 100644
--- a/tests/tools/test_transcription.py
+++ b/tests/tools/test_transcription.py
@@ -190,6 +190,44 @@ class TestTranscribeOpenAI:
         assert result["success"] is True
         assert result["transcript"] == "Hello from OpenAI"
 
+    def test_configured_language_is_forwarded(self, monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+        monkeypatch.setenv("VOICE_TOOLS_OPENAI_KEY", "sk-test")
+        audio_file = tmp_path / "test.ogg"
+        audio_file.write_bytes(b"fake audio")
+
+        mock_client = MagicMock()
+        mock_client.audio.transcriptions.create.return_value = "Привіт"
+
+        with patch("tools.transcription_tools._HAS_OPENAI", True), \
+             patch("tools.transcription_tools._load_stt_config", return_value={
+                 "openai": {"language": "uk"},
+             }), \
+             patch("openai.OpenAI", return_value=mock_client):
+            from tools.transcription_tools import _transcribe_openai
+            result = _transcribe_openai(str(audio_file), "whisper-1")
+
+        assert result["success"] is True
+        assert mock_client.audio.transcriptions.create.call_args.kwargs["language"] == "uk"
+
+    def test_unset_language_omits_argument(self, monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+        monkeypatch.setenv("VOICE_TOOLS_OPENAI_KEY", "sk-test")
+        audio_file = tmp_path / "test.ogg"
+        audio_file.write_bytes(b"fake audio")
+
+        mock_client = MagicMock()
+        mock_client.audio.transcriptions.create.return_value = "Hello"
+
+        with patch("tools.transcription_tools._HAS_OPENAI", True), \
+             patch("tools.transcription_tools._load_stt_config", return_value={
+                 "openai": {"language": ""},
+             }), \
+             patch("openai.OpenAI", return_value=mock_client):
+            from tools.transcription_tools import _transcribe_openai
+            result = _transcribe_openai(str(audio_file), "whisper-1")
+
+        assert result["success"] is True
+        assert "language" not in mock_client.audio.transcriptions.create.call_args.kwargs
+
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Main transcribe_audio() dispatch
diff --git a/tools/transcription_tools.py b/tools/transcription_tools.py
index dd8c60275a..4109434961 100644
--- a/tools/transcription_tools.py
+++ b/tools/transcription_tools.py
@@ -1376,6 +1376,11 @@ def _transcribe_openai(
             return {"success": False, "transcript": "", "error": str(exc)}
         base_url = base_url or fallback_base
 
+    # Language: config.yaml (stt.openai.language) > auto-detect.
+    # Explicit language hint improves accuracy for non-English languages.
+    stt_config = _load_stt_config()
+    language = stt_config.get("openai", {}).get("language")
+
     if not _HAS_OPENAI:
         return {"success": False, "transcript": "", "error": "openai package not installed"}
 
@@ -1391,11 +1396,16 @@ def _transcribe_openai(
         client = OpenAI(api_key=api_key, base_url=base_url, timeout=30, max_retries=0)
         try:
             with open(file_path, "rb") as audio_file:
-                transcription = client.audio.transcriptions.create(
-                    model=model_name,
-                    file=audio_file,
-                    response_format="text" if model_name == "whisper-1" else "json",
-                )
+                create_kwargs = {
+                    "model": model_name,
+                    "file": audio_file,
+                    "response_format": "text" if model_name == "whisper-1" else "json",
+                }
+                if language:
+                    create_kwargs["language"] = language
+                    logger.debug("Using language hint '%s' for OpenAI STT", language)
+
+                transcription = client.audio.transcriptions.create(**create_kwargs)
 
             transcript_text = _extract_transcript_text(transcription)
             logger.info(
diff --git a/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md b/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
index 4a773b30d5..eb6d19ba1a 100644
--- a/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
+++ b/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
@@ -1717,6 +1717,7 @@ stt:
     model: "base"              # tiny, base, small, medium, large-v3
   openai:
     model: "whisper-1"         # whisper-1 | gpt-4o-mini-transcribe | gpt-4o-transcribe
+    language: ""               # auto-detect; set to "en", "es", "fr", etc. to force
   # model: "whisper-1"         # Legacy fallback key still respected
 ```