diff --git a/libandroid-navigation-ui/src/main/java/com/mapbox/services/android/navigation/ui/v5/voice/polly/InstructionTask.java b/libandroid-navigation-ui/src/main/java/com/mapbox/services/android/navigation/ui/v5/voice/polly/InstructionTask.java
index 2399a905e82..c37f209c1c8 100644
--- a/libandroid-navigation-ui/src/main/java/com/mapbox/services/android/navigation/ui/v5/voice/polly/InstructionTask.java
+++ b/libandroid-navigation-ui/src/main/java/com/mapbox/services/android/navigation/ui/v5/voice/polly/InstructionTask.java
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import com.amazonaws.services.polly.AmazonPollyPresigningClient;
 import com.amazonaws.services.polly.model.OutputFormat;
 import com.amazonaws.services.polly.model.SynthesizeSpeechPresignRequest;
+import com.amazonaws.services.polly.model.TextType;
 import com.amazonaws.services.polly.model.VoiceId;
 
 public class InstructionTask extends AsyncTask<String, Void, String> {
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ private String retrieveSpeechUrl(String instruction) {
     SynthesizeSpeechPresignRequest synthesizeSpeechPresignRequest =
       new SynthesizeSpeechPresignRequest()
         .withText(instruction)
+        .withTextType(TextType.Ssml)
         .withVoiceId(VoiceId.Joanna)
         .withOutputFormat(OutputFormat.Mp3);
     try {