diff --git a/mcp/client_example_test.go b/mcp/client_example_test.go
index 225dabac..cc7146c2 100644
--- a/mcp/client_example_test.go
+++ b/mcp/client_example_test.go
@@ -42,9 +42,11 @@ func Example_roots() {
 
 	// Connect the server and client...
 	t1, t2 := mcp.NewInMemoryTransports()
-	if _, err := s.Connect(ctx, t1, nil); err != nil {
+	serverSession, err := s.Connect(ctx, t1, nil)
+	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
+	defer serverSession.Close()
 
 	clientSession, err := c.Connect(ctx, t2, nil)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/mcp/cmd_test.go b/mcp/cmd_test.go
index cbaadcb0..ebf6b592 100644
--- a/mcp/cmd_test.go
+++ b/mcp/cmd_test.go
@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ func TestServerRunContextCancel(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() { session.Close() })
+
 	if err := session.Ping(context.Background(), nil); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -122,35 +124,30 @@ func TestServerInterrupt(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	requireExec(t)
 
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
-	defer cancel()
-
+	t.Log("Starting server command")
 	cmd := createServerCommand(t, "default")
 
 	client := mcp.NewClient(testImpl, nil)
-	_, err := client.Connect(ctx, &mcp.CommandTransport{Command: cmd}, nil)
+	t.Log("Connecting to server")
+
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	session, err := client.Connect(ctx, &mcp.CommandTransport{Command: cmd}, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	// get a signal when the server process exits
-	onExit := make(chan struct{})
-	go func() {
-		cmd.Process.Wait()
-		close(onExit)
-	}()
-
-	// send a signal to the server process to terminate it
+	t.Log("Send a signal to the server process to terminate it")
 	if err := cmd.Process.Signal(os.Interrupt); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	// wait for the server to exit
-	// TODO: use synctest when available
-	select {
-	case <-time.After(5 * time.Second):
-		t.Fatal("server did not exit after SIGINT")
-	case <-onExit:
+	t.Log("Closing client session so server can exit immediately")
+	session.Close()
+
+	t.Log("Wait for process to terminate after interrupt signal")
+	_, err = cmd.Process.Wait()
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/mcp/mcp_test.go b/mcp/mcp_test.go
index 0e1ee1f2..a78c1525 100644
--- a/mcp/mcp_test.go
+++ b/mcp/mcp_test.go
@@ -118,16 +118,6 @@ func TestEndToEnd(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("after connection, Clients() has length %d, want 1", len(got))
 	}
 
-	// Wait for the server to exit after the client closes its connection.
-	var clientWG sync.WaitGroup
-	clientWG.Add(1)
-	go func() {
-		if err := ss.Wait(); err != nil {
-			t.Errorf("server failed: %v", err)
-		}
-		clientWG.Done()
-	}()
-
 	loggingMessages := make(chan *LoggingMessageParams, 100) // big enough for all logging
 	opts := &ClientOptions{
 		CreateMessageHandler: func(context.Context, *CreateMessageRequest) (*CreateMessageResult, error) {
@@ -518,7 +508,9 @@ func TestEndToEnd(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// Disconnect.
 	cs.Close()
-	clientWG.Wait()
+	if err := ss.Wait(); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("server failed: %v", err)
+	}
 
 	// After disconnecting, neither client nor server should have any
 	// connections.
@@ -626,6 +618,7 @@ func basicClientServerConnection(t *testing.T, client *Client, server *Server, c
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = ss.Close() })
 
 	if client == nil {
 		client = NewClient(testImpl, nil)
@@ -634,6 +627,8 @@ func basicClientServerConnection(t *testing.T, client *Client, server *Server, c
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = cs.Close() })
+
 	return cs, ss, func() {
 		cs.Close()
 		ss.Wait()
@@ -750,11 +745,7 @@ func TestMiddleware(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	// Wait for the server to exit after the client closes its connection.
-	defer func() {
-		if err := ss.Wait(); err != nil {
-			t.Errorf("server failed: %v", err)
-		}
-	}()
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = ss.Close() })
 
 	var sbuf, cbuf bytes.Buffer
 	sbuf.WriteByte('\n')
@@ -773,7 +764,7 @@ func TestMiddleware(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	defer cs.Close()
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = cs.Close() })
 
 	if _, err := cs.ListTools(ctx, nil); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
diff --git a/mcp/server.go b/mcp/server.go
index f5b99cf7..1ed170b4 100644
--- a/mcp/server.go
+++ b/mcp/server.go
@@ -776,6 +776,7 @@ func (s *Server) Run(ctx context.Context, t Transport) error {
 	select {
 	case <-ctx.Done():
 		ss.Close()
+		<-ssClosed // wait until waiting go routine above actually completes
 		s.opts.Logger.Error("server run cancelled", "error", ctx.Err())
 		return ctx.Err()
 	case err := <-ssClosed:
diff --git a/mcp/streamable_example_test.go b/mcp/streamable_example_test.go
index 430f2745..f1cdf90a 100644
--- a/mcp/streamable_example_test.go
+++ b/mcp/streamable_example_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 
 // !+streamablehandler
 
+// TODO: Until we have a way to clean up abandoned sessions, this test will leak goroutines (see #499)
 func ExampleStreamableHTTPHandler() {
 	// Create a new streamable handler, using the same MCP server for every request.
 	//
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ func ExampleStreamableHTTPHandler_middleware() {
 	server := mcp.NewServer(&mcp.Implementation{Name: "server", Version: "v0.1.0"}, nil)
 	handler := mcp.NewStreamableHTTPHandler(func(r *http.Request) *mcp.Server {
 		return server
-	}, nil)
+	}, &mcp.StreamableHTTPOptions{Stateless: true})
 	loggingHandler := http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 		// Example debugging; you could also capture the response.
 		body, err := io.ReadAll(req.Body)
diff --git a/mcp/streamable_test.go b/mcp/streamable_test.go
index 6ccaebf7..7cdee1ed 100644
--- a/mcp/streamable_test.go
+++ b/mcp/streamable_test.go
@@ -271,6 +271,8 @@ func TestStreamableServerShutdown(t *testing.T) {
 // network failure and receive replayed messages (if replay is configured). It
 // uses a proxy that is killed and restarted to simulate a recoverable network
 // outage.
+//
+// TODO: Until we have a way to clean up abandoned sessions, this test will leak goroutines (see #499)
 func TestClientReplay(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, test := range []clientReplayTest{
 		{"default", 0, true},
@@ -318,7 +320,10 @@ func testClientReplay(t *testing.T, test clientReplayTest) {
 		})
 
 	realServer := httptest.NewServer(mustNotPanic(t, NewStreamableHTTPHandler(func(*http.Request) *Server { return server }, nil)))
-	defer realServer.Close()
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		t.Log("Closing real HTTP server")
+		realServer.Close()
+	})
 	realServerURL, err := url.Parse(realServer.URL)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Failed to parse real server URL: %v", err)
@@ -345,21 +350,20 @@ func testClientReplay(t *testing.T, test clientReplayTest) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("client.Connect() failed: %v", err)
 	}
-	defer clientSession.Close()
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		t.Log("Closing clientSession")
+		clientSession.Close()
+	})
 
-	var (
-		wg      sync.WaitGroup
-		callErr error
-	)
-	wg.Add(1)
+	toolCallResult := make(chan error, 1)
 	go func() {
-		defer wg.Done()
-		_, callErr = clientSession.CallTool(ctx, &CallToolParams{Name: "multiMessageTool"})
+		_, callErr := clientSession.CallTool(ctx, &CallToolParams{Name: "multiMessageTool"})
+		toolCallResult <- callErr
 	}()
 
 	select {
 	case <-serverReadyToKillProxy:
-		// Server has sent the first two messages and is paused.
+		t.Log("Server has sent the first two messages and is paused.")
 	case <-ctx.Done():
 		t.Fatalf("Context timed out before server was ready to kill proxy")
 	}
@@ -387,9 +391,9 @@ func testClientReplay(t *testing.T, test clientReplayTest) {
 
 	restartedProxy := &http.Server{Handler: proxyHandler}
 	go restartedProxy.Serve(listener)
-	defer restartedProxy.Close()
+	t.Cleanup(func() { restartedProxy.Close() })
 
-	wg.Wait()
+	callErr := <-toolCallResult
 
 	if test.wantRecovered {
 		// If we've recovered, we should get all 4 notifications and the tool call
@@ -463,14 +467,15 @@ func TestServerTransportCleanup(t *testing.T) {
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("client.Connect() failed: %v", err)
 		}
-		defer clientSession.Close()
+		t.Cleanup(func() { _ = clientSession.Close() })
 	}
 
 	for _, ch := range chans {
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			t.Errorf("did not capture transport deletion event from all session in 10 seconds")
-		case <-ch: // Received transport deletion signal of this session
+		case <-ch:
+			t.Log("Received session transport deletion signal")
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -1256,6 +1261,7 @@ func TestStreamableStateless(t *testing.T) {
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
+		t.Cleanup(func() { cs.Close() })
 		res, err := cs.CallTool(ctx, &CallToolParams{Name: "greet", Arguments: hiParams{Name: "bar"}})
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
@@ -1434,6 +1440,18 @@ func TestStreamableGET(t *testing.T) {
 	if got, want := resp.StatusCode, http.StatusOK; got != want {
 		t.Errorf("GET with session ID: got status %d, want %d", got, want)
 	}
+
+	t.Log("Sending final DELETE request to close session and release resources")
+	del := newReq("DELETE", nil)
+	del.Header.Set(sessionIDHeader, sessionID)
+	resp, err = http.DefaultClient.Do(del)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+	if got, want := resp.StatusCode, http.StatusNoContent; got != want {
+		t.Errorf("DELETE with session ID: got status %d, want %d", got, want)
+	}
 }
 
 func TestStreamableClientContextPropagation(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/mcp/transport.go b/mcp/transport.go
index f2f93f4b..1beab470 100644
--- a/mcp/transport.go
+++ b/mcp/transport.go
@@ -310,7 +310,14 @@ func (r rwc) Write(p []byte) (n int, err error) {
 }
 
 func (r rwc) Close() error {
-	return errors.Join(r.rc.Close(), r.wc.Close())
+	rcErr := r.rc.Close()
+
+	var wcErr error
+	if r.wc != nil { // we only allow a nil writer in unit tests
+		wcErr = r.wc.Close()
+	}
+
+	return errors.Join(rcErr, wcErr)
 }
 
 // An ioConn is a transport that delimits messages with newlines across
diff --git a/mcp/transport_example_test.go b/mcp/transport_example_test.go
index ab54a422..7390ea4e 100644
--- a/mcp/transport_example_test.go
+++ b/mcp/transport_example_test.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ func ExampleLoggingTransport() {
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	defer serverSession.Wait()
+	defer serverSession.Close()
 
 	client := mcp.NewClient(&mcp.Implementation{Name: "client", Version: "v0.0.1"}, nil)
 	var b bytes.Buffer
diff --git a/mcp/transport_test.go b/mcp/transport_test.go
index 10804a87..aeff3663 100644
--- a/mcp/transport_test.go
+++ b/mcp/transport_test.go
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ func TestBatchFraming(t *testing.T) {
 	r, w := io.Pipe()
 	tport := newIOConn(rwc{r, w})
 	tport.outgoingBatch = make([]jsonrpc.Message, 0, 2)
-	defer tport.Close()
+	t.Cleanup(func() { tport.Close() })
 
 	// Read the two messages into a channel, for easy testing later.
 	read := make(chan jsonrpc.Message)
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ func TestIOConnRead(t *testing.T) {
 			tr := newIOConn(rwc{
 				rc: io.NopCloser(strings.NewReader(tt.input)),
 			})
+			t.Cleanup(func() { tr.Close() })
 			if tt.protocolVersion != "" {
 				tr.sessionUpdated(ServerSessionState{
 					InitializeParams: &InitializeParams{