diff --git a/src/handlers/streamHandler.ts b/src/handlers/streamHandler.ts
index c406e64a6..fcd084f66 100644
--- a/src/handlers/streamHandler.ts
+++ b/src/handlers/streamHandler.ts
@@ -321,29 +321,39 @@ export function handleStreamingMode(
   const isSleepTimeRequired = proxyProvider === AZURE_OPEN_AI ? true : false;
   const encoder = new TextEncoder();
 
+  // Hold a strong reference to the upstream response, reader, and writer
+  // for the entire lifetime of the streamed body. Without this, only
+  // `reader` is captured by the async closure below; V8 can then
+  // garbage-collect the upstream `Response` mid-stream under concurrent
+  // load, causing `reader.read()` to throw
+  // "Response object has been garbage collected" and the consumer to see
+  // a truncated stream / TLS-close error.
+  const streamCtx = { response, reader, writer };
+  let streamTask: Promise<void>;
+
   if (proxyProvider === BEDROCK) {
-    (async () => {
+    streamTask = (async () => {
       try {
         if (shouldSendHookResultChunk(strictOpenAiCompliance, hooksResult)) {
           const hookResultChunk = constructHookResultChunk(hooksResult, fn);
           if (hookResultChunk) {
-            await writer.write(encoder.encode(hookResultChunk));
+            await streamCtx.writer.write(encoder.encode(hookResultChunk));
           }
         }
         for await (const chunk of readAWSStream(
-          reader,
+          streamCtx.reader,
           responseTransformer,
           fallbackChunkId,
           strictOpenAiCompliance,
           gatewayRequest
         )) {
-          await writer.write(encoder.encode(chunk));
+          await streamCtx.writer.write(encoder.encode(chunk));
         }
       } catch (error) {
         console.error('Error during stream processing:', proxyProvider, error);
       } finally {
         try {
-          await writer.close();
+          await streamCtx.writer.close();
         } catch (closeError) {
           console.error(
             'Failed to close the writer:',
@@ -354,16 +364,16 @@ export function handleStreamingMode(
       }
     })();
   } else {
-    (async () => {
+    streamTask = (async () => {
       try {
         if (shouldSendHookResultChunk(strictOpenAiCompliance, hooksResult)) {
           const hookResultChunk = constructHookResultChunk(hooksResult, fn);
           if (hookResultChunk) {
-            await writer.write(encoder.encode(hookResultChunk));
+            await streamCtx.writer.write(encoder.encode(hookResultChunk));
           }
         }
         for await (const chunk of readStream(
-          reader,
+          streamCtx.reader,
           splitPattern,
           responseTransformer,
           isSleepTimeRequired,
@@ -371,13 +381,13 @@ export function handleStreamingMode(
           strictOpenAiCompliance,
           gatewayRequest
         )) {
-          await writer.write(encoder.encode(chunk));
+          await streamCtx.writer.write(encoder.encode(chunk));
         }
       } catch (error) {
         console.error('Error during stream processing:', proxyProvider, error);
       } finally {
         try {
-          await writer.close();
+          await streamCtx.writer.close();
         } catch (closeError) {
           console.error(
             'Failed to close the writer:',
@@ -389,6 +399,13 @@ export function handleStreamingMode(
     })();
   }
 
+  // Anchor the streaming task and context on the returned `readable` so the
+  // caller's response (which wraps `readable`) keeps them alive. This is
+  // the strong-reference chain that prevents V8 from collecting `response`
+  // or dropping the unawaited promise before the stream completes.
+  (readable as any).__pkg_streamTask = streamTask;
+  (readable as any).__pkg_streamCtx = streamCtx;
+
   // Convert GEMINI/COHERE json stream to text/event-stream for non-proxy calls
   const isGoogleCohereOrBedrock = [GOOGLE, COHERE, BEDROCK].includes(
     proxyProvider