diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 5490008..fd7e5a4 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ if(UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
     pkg_check_modules(DRM REQUIRED libdrm)
     pkg_check_modules(VAAPI libva libva-drm)
     pkg_check_modules(ALSA REQUIRED alsa)
+    pkg_check_modules(PULSEAUDIO libpulse-simple libpulse)
 
     if(NOT HEADLESS)
         pkg_check_modules(GTK3 REQUIRED gtk+-3.0)
@@ -93,6 +94,10 @@ if(UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
     if(X11_FOUND)
         add_compile_definitions(HAVE_X11)
     endif()
+
+    if(PULSEAUDIO_FOUND)
+        add_compile_definitions(HAVE_PULSEAUDIO)
+    endif()
 endif()
 
 if(WIN32)
@@ -400,6 +405,7 @@ message(STATUS "  Build Client:  ${BUILD_CLIENT}")
 message(STATUS "  Headless:      ${HEADLESS}")
 if(UNIX)
     message(STATUS "  VA-API:        ${VAAPI_FOUND}")
+    message(STATUS "  PulseAudio:    ${PULSEAUDIO_FOUND}")
     message(STATUS "  Avahi:         ${AVAHI_FOUND}")
 endif()
 message(STATUS "")
diff --git a/src/network.c b/src/network.c
index 7bf30df..4a4fb4d 100644
--- a/src/network.c
+++ b/src/network.c
@@ -617,7 +617,17 @@ int rootstream_net_recv(rootstream_ctx_t *ctx, int timeout_ms) {
                     }
 
                     if (!drop_audio) {
-                        audio_playback_write(ctx, pcm_buffer, pcm_samples);
+                        /* Use audio playback backend if available */
+                        if (ctx->audio_playback_backend && ctx->audio_playback_backend->playback_fn) {
+                            ctx->audio_playback_backend->playback_fn(ctx, pcm_buffer, pcm_samples);
+                        } else {
+                            /* Warn once if audio backend is not available */
+                            static bool warned_no_backend = false;
+                            if (!warned_no_backend) {
+                                fprintf(stderr, "WARNING: No audio playback backend available, audio will be dropped\n");
+                                warned_no_backend = true;
+                            }
+                        }
                         ctx->last_audio_ts_us = header.timestamp_us;
                     }
                 } else {