diff --git a/public/locales/en/translation.json b/public/locales/en/translation.json
index 373dda5f8f..f71d5c095c 100644
--- a/public/locales/en/translation.json
+++ b/public/locales/en/translation.json
@@ -488,7 +488,8 @@
     "speakerAdd": "Right click to add a speaker.",
     "speakerChange": "Right click to change speaker.",
     "speakerSelect": "Select speaker of this audio recording",
-    "recordingError": "Recording error",
+    "recordingError": "Recording error.",
+    "recordingPermission": "Please check if microphone permission is enabled in your browser.",
     "deleteRecording": "Delete Recording",
     "audioStreamError": "Error getting audio stream!",
     "noMicAccess": "No microphone access. Audio recording disabled."
diff --git a/src/components/Pronunciations/AudioRecorder.tsx b/src/components/Pronunciations/AudioRecorder.tsx
index 2d09cc4f5e..981e949d27 100644
--- a/src/components/Pronunciations/AudioRecorder.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Pronunciations/AudioRecorder.tsx
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { toast } from "react-toastify";
 
 import RecorderContext from "components/Pronunciations/RecorderContext";
 import RecorderIcon from "components/Pronunciations/RecorderIcon";
+import { isBrowserFirefox } from "components/Pronunciations/utilities";
 import { useAppSelector } from "rootRedux/hooks";
 import { type StoreState } from "rootRedux/types";
 import { FileWithSpeakerId } from "types/word";
@@ -33,7 +34,13 @@ export default function AudioRecorder(props: RecorderProps): ReactElement {
     // Prevent starting a recording before a previous one is finished.
     await stopRecording();
 
-    recorder.startRecording(props.id);
+    if (!recorder.startRecording(props.id)) {
+      let errorMessage = t("pronunciations.recordingError");
+      if (isBrowserFirefox()) {
+        errorMessage += ` ${t("pronunciations.recordingPermission")}`;
+      }
+      toast.error(errorMessage);
+    }
   }
 
   async function stopRecording(): Promise<string | undefined> {
diff --git a/src/components/Pronunciations/Recorder.ts b/src/components/Pronunciations/Recorder.ts
index 9fb8540073..489b84c68f 100644
--- a/src/components/Pronunciations/Recorder.ts
+++ b/src/components/Pronunciations/Recorder.ts
@@ -29,10 +29,16 @@ export default class Recorder {
       : undefined;
   }
 
-  startRecording(id: string): void {
-    this.recordRTC?.reset();
+  /** If recorder exists, start recording and return true.
+   * If no recorder, return false. */
+  startRecording(id: string): boolean {
+    if (!this.recordRTC) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    this.recordRTC.reset();
     this.id = id;
-    this.recordRTC?.startRecording();
+    this.recordRTC.startRecording();
+    return true;
   }
 
   stopRecording(): Promise<File | undefined> {
diff --git a/src/components/Pronunciations/utilities.ts b/src/components/Pronunciations/utilities.ts
index eb71348689..9d33642b9a 100644
--- a/src/components/Pronunciations/utilities.ts
+++ b/src/components/Pronunciations/utilities.ts
@@ -35,16 +35,16 @@ export async function uploadFileFromPronunciation(
  * https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/User-Agent/Firefox */
 const firefoxBrowsers = ["firefox", "focus", "fxios"];
 
-/** Check if a user-agent string is of a Firefox browser. */
-function isUserAgentFirefox(userAgent: string): boolean {
-  const uaLower = userAgent.toLocaleLowerCase();
+/** Check if browser is a Firefox browser. */
+export function isBrowserFirefox(): boolean {
+  const uaLower = navigator.userAgent.toLocaleLowerCase();
   return firefoxBrowsers.some((browser) => uaLower.includes(browser));
 }
 
 /** Checks if the user has granted mic permission to The Combine,
  * except on Firefox assumes permission is granted. */
 export async function checkMicPermission(): Promise<boolean> {
-  if (!isUserAgentFirefox(navigator.userAgent)) {
+  if (!isBrowserFirefox()) {
     const result = await navigator.permissions.query({
       name: "microphone" as PermissionName, // This causes a TypeError on Firefox.
     });