diff --git a/openai-java-core/src/main/kotlin/com/openai/core/handlers/ErrorHandler.kt b/openai-java-core/src/main/kotlin/com/openai/core/handlers/ErrorHandler.kt
index a235b051a..83070517a 100644
--- a/openai-java-core/src/main/kotlin/com/openai/core/handlers/ErrorHandler.kt
+++ b/openai-java-core/src/main/kotlin/com/openai/core/handlers/ErrorHandler.kt
@@ -42,50 +42,35 @@ internal fun errorHandler(
     errorBodyHandler: Handler<JsonField<ErrorObject>>
 ): Handler<HttpResponse> =
     object : Handler<HttpResponse> {
-        override fun handle(response: HttpResponse): HttpResponse =
-            when (val statusCode = response.statusCode()) {
-                in 200..299 -> response
-                400 ->
-                    throw BadRequestException.builder()
-                        .headers(response.headers())
-                        .error(errorBodyHandler.handle(response))
-                        .build()
-                401 ->
-                    throw UnauthorizedException.builder()
-                        .headers(response.headers())
-                        .error(errorBodyHandler.handle(response))
-                        .build()
-                403 ->
-                    throw PermissionDeniedException.builder()
-                        .headers(response.headers())
-                        .error(errorBodyHandler.handle(response))
-                        .build()
-                404 ->
-                    throw NotFoundException.builder()
-                        .headers(response.headers())
-                        .error(errorBodyHandler.handle(response))
-                        .build()
-                422 ->
-                    throw UnprocessableEntityException.builder()
-                        .headers(response.headers())
-                        .error(errorBodyHandler.handle(response))
-                        .build()
-                429 ->
-                    throw RateLimitException.builder()
-                        .headers(response.headers())
-                        .error(errorBodyHandler.handle(response))
-                        .build()
-                in 500..599 ->
-                    throw InternalServerException.builder()
-                        .statusCode(statusCode)
-                        .headers(response.headers())
-                        .error(errorBodyHandler.handle(response))
-                        .build()
-                else ->
-                    throw UnexpectedStatusCodeException.builder()
-                        .statusCode(statusCode)
-                        .headers(response.headers())
-                        .error(errorBodyHandler.handle(response))
-                        .build()
+        override fun handle(response: HttpResponse): HttpResponse {
+            val statusCode = response.statusCode()
+            if (statusCode in 200..299) {
+                return response
             }
+
+            return response.use {
+                val headers = response.headers()
+                val error = errorBodyHandler.handle(response)
+                throw when (statusCode) {
+                    400 -> BadRequestException.builder().headers(headers).error(error).build()
+                    401 -> UnauthorizedException.builder().headers(headers).error(error).build()
+                    403 -> PermissionDeniedException.builder().headers(headers).error(error).build()
+                    404 -> NotFoundException.builder().headers(headers).error(error).build()
+                    422 -> UnprocessableEntityException.builder().headers(headers).error(error).build()
+                    429 -> RateLimitException.builder().headers(headers).error(error).build()
+                    in 500..599 ->
+                        InternalServerException.builder()
+                            .statusCode(statusCode)
+                            .headers(headers)
+                            .error(error)
+                            .build()
+                    else ->
+                        UnexpectedStatusCodeException.builder()
+                            .statusCode(statusCode)
+                            .headers(headers)
+                            .error(error)
+                            .build()
+                }
+            }
+        }
     }
diff --git a/openai-java-core/src/test/kotlin/com/openai/core/handlers/ErrorHandlerResponseCloseTest.kt b/openai-java-core/src/test/kotlin/com/openai/core/handlers/ErrorHandlerResponseCloseTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0ad07615f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openai-java-core/src/test/kotlin/com/openai/core/handlers/ErrorHandlerResponseCloseTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+package com.openai.core.handlers
+
+import com.openai.core.JsonField
+import com.openai.core.JsonMissing
+import com.openai.core.http.Headers
+import com.openai.core.http.HttpResponse
+import com.openai.errors.OpenAIException
+import com.openai.models.ErrorObject
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream
+import java.io.InputStream
+import org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.assertThrows
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.ValueSource
+
+internal class ErrorHandlerResponseCloseTest {
+
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @ValueSource(ints = [400, 401, 403, 404, 418, 422, 429, 500])
+    fun closesEveryNonSuccessResponse(statusCode: Int) {
+        val response = RecordingResponse(statusCode)
+        val handler =
+            errorHandler(
+                object : HttpResponse.Handler<JsonField<ErrorObject>> {
+                    override fun handle(response: HttpResponse): JsonField<ErrorObject> =
+                        JsonMissing.of()
+                }
+            )
+
+        assertThrows<OpenAIException> { handler.handle(response) }
+
+        assertThat(response.closed).isTrue()
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun closesResponseWhenErrorBodyHandlerThrows() {
+        val failure = IllegalStateException("error body failed")
+        val response = RecordingResponse(400)
+        val handler =
+            errorHandler(
+                object : HttpResponse.Handler<JsonField<ErrorObject>> {
+                    override fun handle(response: HttpResponse): JsonField<ErrorObject> {
+                        throw failure
+                    }
+                }
+            )
+
+        val thrown = assertThrows<IllegalStateException> { handler.handle(response) }
+
+        assertThat(thrown).isSameAs(failure)
+        assertThat(response.closed).isTrue()
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun leavesSuccessfulResponseOpenForCaller() {
+        val response = RecordingResponse(200)
+        val handler =
+            errorHandler(
+                object : HttpResponse.Handler<JsonField<ErrorObject>> {
+                    override fun handle(response: HttpResponse): JsonField<ErrorObject> =
+                        error("error body handler must not run for successful responses")
+                }
+            )
+
+        assertThat(handler.handle(response)).isSameAs(response)
+        assertThat(response.closed).isFalse()
+    }
+
+    private class RecordingResponse(private val statusCode: Int) : HttpResponse {
+        var closed = false
+            private set
+
+        override fun statusCode(): Int = statusCode
+
+        override fun headers(): Headers = Headers.builder().build()
+
+        override fun body(): InputStream = ByteArrayInputStream(ByteArray(0))
+
+        override fun close() {
+            closed = true
+        }
+    }
+}