diff --git a/core/sdk-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/internal/http/pipeline/stages/MakeAsyncHttpRequestStage.java b/core/sdk-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/internal/http/pipeline/stages/MakeAsyncHttpRequestStage.java
index 5e7786b1c561..a40fdeb90b72 100644
--- a/core/sdk-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/internal/http/pipeline/stages/MakeAsyncHttpRequestStage.java
+++ b/core/sdk-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/internal/http/pipeline/stages/MakeAsyncHttpRequestStage.java
@@ -158,9 +158,12 @@ private CompletableFuture<Response<OutputT>> executeHttpRequest(SdkHttpFullReque
 
         // Attempt to offload the completion of the future returned from this
         // stage onto the future completion executor
-        CompletableFuture<Response<OutputT>> asyncComplete =
-            responseHandlerFuture.whenCompleteAsync((r, t) -> completeResponseFuture(responseFuture, r, t),
-                                                    futureCompletionExecutor);
+        CompletableFuture<Void> asyncComplete =
+            responseHandlerFuture.handleAsync((r, t) -> {
+                completeResponseFuture(responseFuture, r, t);
+                return null;
+            },
+            futureCompletionExecutor);
 
         // It's possible the async execution above fails. If so, log a warning,
         // and just complete it synchronously.
diff --git a/core/sdk-core/src/test/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/internal/http/pipeline/stages/MakeAsyncHttpRequestStageTest.java b/core/sdk-core/src/test/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/internal/http/pipeline/stages/MakeAsyncHttpRequestStageTest.java
index 735d33050484..df8126db2343 100644
--- a/core/sdk-core/src/test/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/internal/http/pipeline/stages/MakeAsyncHttpRequestStageTest.java
+++ b/core/sdk-core/src/test/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/internal/http/pipeline/stages/MakeAsyncHttpRequestStageTest.java
@@ -16,12 +16,14 @@
 package software.amazon.awssdk.core.internal.http.pipeline.stages;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatThrownBy;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.anyLong;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.eq;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.doThrow;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.never;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.spy;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.times;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
@@ -33,6 +35,7 @@
 import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 import java.util.concurrent.RejectedExecutionException;
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledFuture;
@@ -58,6 +61,8 @@
 import software.amazon.awssdk.http.async.AsyncExecuteRequest;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.http.async.SdkAsyncHttpClient;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.metrics.MetricCollector;
+import software.amazon.awssdk.utils.CompletableFutureUtils;
+import software.amazon.awssdk.utils.ThreadFactoryBuilder;
 import utils.ValidSdkObjects;
 
 @RunWith(MockitoJUnitRunner.class)
@@ -157,7 +162,7 @@ public void testExecute_contextContainsMetricCollector_addsChildToExecuteRequest
     }
 
     @Test
-    public void execute_futureCompletionExecutorRejectsWhenCompleteAsync_futureCompletedSynchronously() {
+    public void execute_handlerFutureCompletedNormally_futureCompletionExecutorRejectsWhenCompleteAsync_futureCompletedSynchronously() {
         ExecutorService mockExecutor = mock(ExecutorService.class);
         doThrow(new RejectedExecutionException("Busy")).when(mockExecutor).execute(any(Runnable.class));
 
@@ -169,7 +174,8 @@ public void execute_futureCompletionExecutorRejectsWhenCompleteAsync_futureCompl
         HttpClientDependencies dependencies = HttpClientDependencies.builder().clientConfiguration(config).build();
 
         TransformingAsyncResponseHandler mockHandler = mock(TransformingAsyncResponseHandler.class);
-        when(mockHandler.prepare()).thenReturn(CompletableFuture.completedFuture(null));
+        CompletableFuture prepareFuture = new CompletableFuture();
+        when(mockHandler.prepare()).thenReturn(prepareFuture);
 
         stage = new MakeAsyncHttpRequestStage<>(mockHandler, dependencies);
 
@@ -179,10 +185,58 @@ public void execute_futureCompletionExecutorRejectsWhenCompleteAsync_futureCompl
         CompletableFuture executeFuture = stage.execute(requestFuture, requestContext());
 
         long testThreadId = Thread.currentThread().getId();
-        executeFuture.whenComplete((r, t) -> assertThat(Thread.currentThread().getId()).isEqualTo(testThreadId)).join();
+        CompletableFuture afterWhenComplete =
+            executeFuture.whenComplete((r, t) -> assertThat(Thread.currentThread().getId()).isEqualTo(testThreadId));
+
+        prepareFuture.complete(null);
+
+        afterWhenComplete.join();
+
         verify(mockExecutor).execute(any(Runnable.class));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void execute_handlerFutureCompletedExceptionally_doesNotAttemptSynchronousComplete() {
+        String threadNamePrefix = "async-handle-test";
+        ExecutorService mockExecutor = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor(
+            new ThreadFactoryBuilder().threadNamePrefix(threadNamePrefix).build());
+
+        SdkClientConfiguration config =
+            SdkClientConfiguration.builder()
+                                  .option(SdkAdvancedAsyncClientOption.FUTURE_COMPLETION_EXECUTOR, mockExecutor)
+                                  .option(ASYNC_HTTP_CLIENT, sdkAsyncHttpClient)
+                                  .build();
+        HttpClientDependencies dependencies = HttpClientDependencies.builder().clientConfiguration(config).build();
+
+        TransformingAsyncResponseHandler mockHandler = mock(TransformingAsyncResponseHandler.class);
+        CompletableFuture prepareFuture = spy(new CompletableFuture());
+        when(mockHandler.prepare()).thenReturn(prepareFuture);
+
+        stage = new MakeAsyncHttpRequestStage<>(mockHandler, dependencies);
+
+        CompletableFuture<SdkHttpFullRequest> requestFuture = CompletableFuture.completedFuture(
+            ValidSdkObjects.sdkHttpFullRequest().build());
+
+        CompletableFuture executeFuture = stage.execute(requestFuture, requestContext());
+
+        try {
+            CompletableFuture afterHandle =
+                executeFuture.handle((r, t) -> assertThat(Thread.currentThread().getName()).startsWith(threadNamePrefix));
+
+            prepareFuture.completeExceptionally(new RuntimeException("parse error"));
+
+            afterHandle.join();
+
+            assertThatThrownBy(executeFuture::join)
+                .hasCauseInstanceOf(RuntimeException.class)
+                .hasMessageContaining("parse error");
+
+            verify(prepareFuture, times(0)).whenComplete(any());
+        } finally {
+            mockExecutor.shutdown();
+        }
+    }
+
     private HttpClientDependencies clientDependencies(Duration timeout) {
         SdkClientConfiguration configuration = SdkClientConfiguration.builder()
                                                                      .option(SdkAdvancedAsyncClientOption.FUTURE_COMPLETION_EXECUTOR, Runnable::run)