diff --git a/Aquaria/DSQ.cpp b/Aquaria/DSQ.cpp
index a9a8bd2..036b234 100644
--- a/Aquaria/DSQ.cpp
+++ b/Aquaria/DSQ.cpp
@@ -2208,6 +2208,16 @@ void DSQ::playPositionalSfx(const std::string &name, const Vector &position, flo
 {
 	PlaySfx sfx = calcPositionalSfx(position);
 
+	// FIXME: Right now, positional sound effects never update their relative position to the
+	// listener, which means that if they are spawned too far away to be audible, it is not possible
+	// that they ever get audible at all. Additionally, the current scripting API only provides
+	// functions to fade sounds OUT, not to set their volume arbitrarily.
+	// Because audio thread creation is costly, drop sounds that can not be heard.
+	// This needs to be removed once proper audio source/listener positioning is implemented,
+	// or the scripting interface gets additional functions to mess with sound. -- FG
+	if (sfx.vol <= 0)
+		return;
+
 	sfx.freq = f;
 	sfx.name = name;
 
diff --git a/Aquaria/ScriptInterface.cpp b/Aquaria/ScriptInterface.cpp
index 228da1d..f59140e 100644
--- a/Aquaria/ScriptInterface.cpp
+++ b/Aquaria/ScriptInterface.cpp
@@ -2346,6 +2346,11 @@ luaFunc(entity_playSfx)
 		float fadeOut = lua_tonumber(L, 6);
 		if(vol > 0)
 			sfx.vol *= vol;
+
+		// FIXME: See comment in DSQ::playPositionalSfx() -- FG
+		if (sfx.vol <= 0)
+			luaReturnPtr(NULL);
+
 		h = core->sound->playSfx(sfx);
 		if (fadeOut != 0)
 		{
@@ -5136,6 +5141,10 @@ luaFunc(playSfx)
 		sfx.vol = vol;
 	}
 
+	// FIXME: See comment in DSQ::playPositionalSfx() -- FG
+	if (sfx.vol <= 0)
+		luaReturnPtr(NULL);
+
 	sfx.name = getString(L, 1);
 	sfx.freq = freq;
 	sfx.loops = loops;