diff --git a/client/transport/sse.go b/client/transport/sse.go
index 501036d1e..d5abdcfe6 100644
--- a/client/transport/sse.go
+++ b/client/transport/sse.go
@@ -278,13 +278,19 @@ func (c *SSE) SendRequest(
 		deleteResponseChan()
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to send request: %w", err)
 	}
-	defer resp.Body.Close()
+
+	// Drain any outstanding io
+	body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	resp.Body.Close()
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read response body: %w", err)
+	}
 
 	// Check if we got an error response
 	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK && resp.StatusCode != http.StatusAccepted {
 		deleteResponseChan()
 
-		body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("request failed with status %d: %s", resp.StatusCode, body)
 	}