diff --git a/litellm-rust/Cargo.lock b/litellm-rust/Cargo.lock
index b3dac5ca935..90536e66753 100644
--- a/litellm-rust/Cargo.lock
+++ b/litellm-rust/Cargo.lock
@@ -1404,6 +1404,15 @@ version = "0.2.186"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "68ab91017fe16c622486840e4c83c9a37afeff978bd239b5293d61ece587de66"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "libmimalloc-sys"
+version = "0.1.49"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6a45a52f43e1c16f667ccfe4dd8c85b7f7c204fd5e3bf46c5b0db9a5c3c0b8e9"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "litellm-ai-gateway"
 version = "0.1.0"
@@ -1454,6 +1463,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "litellm-ai-gateway",
  "litellm-core",
  "litellm-python-interop",
+ "mimalloc",
  "pyo3",
  "pyo3-async-runtimes",
  "serde",
@@ -1505,6 +1515,15 @@ version = "2.8.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "cf8baf1c55e62ffcace7a9f06f4bd9cd3f0c4beb022d3b367256b91b87513d98"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "mimalloc"
+version = "0.1.52"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2d4139bb28d14ad1facf21d5eb8825051b326e172d216b39f6d31df53cc97862"
+dependencies = [
+ "libmimalloc-sys",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "mime"
 version = "0.3.17"
diff --git a/litellm-rust/Cargo.toml b/litellm-rust/Cargo.toml
index a13dd4c04b0..9a7fbe72c35 100644
--- a/litellm-rust/Cargo.toml
+++ b/litellm-rust/Cargo.toml
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ tokio = { version = "1", features = ["rt-multi-thread", "macros", "time", "net"]
 tokio-tungstenite = { version = "0.24", default-features = false, features = ["connect", "rustls-tls-native-roots"] }
 futures-util = { version = "0.3", default-features = false, features = ["sink", "std"] }
 base64 = "0.22"
+mimalloc = "0.1"
 
 [profile.release]
 opt-level = 3
diff --git a/litellm-rust/crates/ai-gateway/src/client.rs b/litellm-rust/crates/ai-gateway/src/client.rs
index ff2606f0229..16a22733fac 100644
--- a/litellm-rust/crates/ai-gateway/src/client.rs
+++ b/litellm-rust/crates/ai-gateway/src/client.rs
@@ -2,12 +2,16 @@ use std::sync::OnceLock;
 use std::time::Duration;
 
 const HTTP_CLIENT_TIMEOUT_SECS: u64 = 600;
+const HTTP_CLIENT_POOL_MAX_IDLE_PER_HOST: usize = 64;
+const HTTP_CLIENT_TCP_KEEPALIVE_SECS: u64 = 60;
 
 pub(crate) fn http_client() -> &'static reqwest::Client {
     static CLIENT: OnceLock<reqwest::Client> = OnceLock::new();
     CLIENT.get_or_init(|| {
         reqwest::Client::builder()
             .timeout(Duration::from_secs(HTTP_CLIENT_TIMEOUT_SECS))
+            .pool_max_idle_per_host(HTTP_CLIENT_POOL_MAX_IDLE_PER_HOST)
+            .tcp_keepalive(Some(Duration::from_secs(HTTP_CLIENT_TCP_KEEPALIVE_SECS)))
             .build()
             .expect("failed to build reqwest client")
     })
diff --git a/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/audio_transcription/client.rs b/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/audio_transcription/client.rs
index 0e612628dc6..86edf504923 100644
--- a/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/audio_transcription/client.rs
+++ b/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/audio_transcription/client.rs
@@ -1,13 +1,17 @@
 use std::sync::OnceLock;
 use std::time::Duration;
 
-use crate::constants::AUDIO_TRANSCRIPTION_TIMEOUT_SECS;
+use crate::constants::{
+    AUDIO_TRANSCRIPTION_TIMEOUT_SECS, PROVIDER_POOL_MAX_IDLE_PER_HOST, PROVIDER_TCP_KEEPALIVE_SECS,
+};
 
 pub(super) fn http_client() -> &'static reqwest::Client {
     static CLIENT: OnceLock<reqwest::Client> = OnceLock::new();
     CLIENT.get_or_init(|| {
         reqwest::Client::builder()
             .timeout(Duration::from_secs(AUDIO_TRANSCRIPTION_TIMEOUT_SECS))
+            .pool_max_idle_per_host(PROVIDER_POOL_MAX_IDLE_PER_HOST)
+            .tcp_keepalive(Some(Duration::from_secs(PROVIDER_TCP_KEEPALIVE_SECS)))
             .build()
             .unwrap_or_else(|_| reqwest::Client::new())
     })
diff --git a/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/chat_completions/client.rs b/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/chat_completions/client.rs
index f2ef73ed030..636bf31a048 100644
--- a/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/chat_completions/client.rs
+++ b/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/chat_completions/client.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 use std::sync::OnceLock;
 use std::time::Duration;
 
-use crate::constants::{CHAT_COMPLETIONS_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_SECS, CHAT_COMPLETIONS_TIMEOUT_SECS};
+use crate::constants::{
+    CHAT_COMPLETIONS_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_SECS, CHAT_COMPLETIONS_TIMEOUT_SECS,
+    PROVIDER_POOL_MAX_IDLE_PER_HOST, PROVIDER_TCP_KEEPALIVE_SECS,
+};
 
 pub(super) fn http_client() -> &'static reqwest::Client {
     static CLIENT: OnceLock<reqwest::Client> = OnceLock::new();
@@ -9,6 +12,8 @@ pub(super) fn http_client() -> &'static reqwest::Client {
         reqwest::Client::builder()
             .timeout(Duration::from_secs(CHAT_COMPLETIONS_TIMEOUT_SECS))
             .connect_timeout(Duration::from_secs(CHAT_COMPLETIONS_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_SECS))
+            .pool_max_idle_per_host(PROVIDER_POOL_MAX_IDLE_PER_HOST)
+            .tcp_keepalive(Some(Duration::from_secs(PROVIDER_TCP_KEEPALIVE_SECS)))
             .build()
             .unwrap_or_else(|_| reqwest::Client::new())
     })
diff --git a/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/constants.rs b/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/constants.rs
index a73961060eb..f24bf9db2a9 100644
--- a/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/constants.rs
+++ b/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/constants.rs
@@ -32,6 +32,18 @@ pub(crate) const CHAT_COMPLETIONS_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_SECS: u64 = 10;
 
 pub(crate) const AUDIO_TRANSCRIPTION_TIMEOUT_SECS: u64 = 600;
 
+/// Idle connections retained per host in the shared provider clients.
+/// reqwest defaults to `usize::MAX`, so a burst of concurrent calls to one
+/// provider host leaves every connection idle in the pool until its timeout;
+/// this bounds file descriptors while keeping enough warm connections for
+/// TLS-handshake-free reuse.
+pub(crate) const PROVIDER_POOL_MAX_IDLE_PER_HOST: usize = 64;
+
+/// TCP keep-alive probe interval for provider sockets. Detects half-open
+/// peers (NAT/LB reaping, vanished upstreams) during long-lived streaming
+/// responses that otherwise sit silent for the whole request timeout.
+pub(crate) const PROVIDER_TCP_KEEPALIVE_SECS: u64 = 60;
+
 /// `object` field every non-streaming chat completion response carries.
 pub const CHAT_COMPLETION_OBJECT: &str = "chat.completion";
 
diff --git a/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/messages/client.rs b/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/messages/client.rs
index 6281270b964..6d377f476d0 100644
--- a/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/messages/client.rs
+++ b/litellm-rust/crates/core/src/messages/client.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 use std::sync::OnceLock;
 use std::time::Duration;
 
-use crate::constants::{MESSAGES_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_SECS, MESSAGES_TIMEOUT_SECS};
+use crate::constants::{
+    MESSAGES_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_SECS, MESSAGES_TIMEOUT_SECS, PROVIDER_POOL_MAX_IDLE_PER_HOST,
+    PROVIDER_TCP_KEEPALIVE_SECS,
+};
 
 pub(super) fn http_client() -> &'static reqwest::Client {
     static CLIENT: OnceLock<reqwest::Client> = OnceLock::new();
@@ -9,6 +12,8 @@ pub(super) fn http_client() -> &'static reqwest::Client {
         reqwest::Client::builder()
             .timeout(Duration::from_secs(MESSAGES_TIMEOUT_SECS))
             .connect_timeout(Duration::from_secs(MESSAGES_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_SECS))
+            .pool_max_idle_per_host(PROVIDER_POOL_MAX_IDLE_PER_HOST)
+            .tcp_keepalive(Some(Duration::from_secs(PROVIDER_TCP_KEEPALIVE_SECS)))
             .build()
             .unwrap_or_else(|_| reqwest::Client::new())
     })
diff --git a/litellm-rust/crates/python-bridge/Cargo.toml b/litellm-rust/crates/python-bridge/Cargo.toml
index 637e5580170..c4be72ab8f5 100644
--- a/litellm-rust/crates/python-bridge/Cargo.toml
+++ b/litellm-rust/crates/python-bridge/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ panic-test = []
 
 [dependencies]
 futures-util.workspace = true
+mimalloc.workspace = true
 tracing.workspace = true
 tracing-subscriber.workspace = true
 litellm-core = { workspace = true, features = ["bedrock-auth"] }
diff --git a/litellm-rust/crates/python-bridge/src/lib.rs b/litellm-rust/crates/python-bridge/src/lib.rs
index 5f36a22370a..7e160a4c7bf 100644
--- a/litellm-rust/crates/python-bridge/src/lib.rs
+++ b/litellm-rust/crates/python-bridge/src/lib.rs
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ use pyo3::prelude::*;
 use pyo3::types::PyAny;
 use serde_json::Value;
 
+#[global_allocator]
+static ALLOCATOR: mimalloc::MiMalloc = mimalloc::MiMalloc;
+
 use crate::errors::core_error_to_pyerr;
 use crate::marshal::{marshal_headers, optional_timeout};