diff --git a/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/async_client_cleanup.py b/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/async_client_cleanup.py
index d5984e457eb..6ef61b6f58f 100644
--- a/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/async_client_cleanup.py
+++ b/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/async_client_cleanup.py
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ async def close_litellm_async_clients():
                 pass
 
         # Handle AsyncHTTPHandler instances (used by Gemini and other providers)
-        elif hasattr(handler, "client"):
-            client = handler.client
+        elif hasattr(handler, "_client") or hasattr(handler, "client"):
+            client = handler._client if hasattr(handler, "_client") else handler.client
             # Check if the httpx client has an aiohttp transport
             if hasattr(client, "_transport") and hasattr(client._transport, "aclose"):
                 try:
diff --git a/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/http_handler.py b/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/http_handler.py
index 619341be62b..726392577e5 100644
--- a/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/http_handler.py
+++ b/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/http_handler.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import os
 import socket
 import ssl
 import sys
+import threading
 import time
 from collections.abc import Callable, Mapping
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Final, Optional
@@ -510,7 +511,10 @@ class AsyncHTTPHandler:
     ):
         self.timeout = timeout
         self.event_hooks = event_hooks
-        self.client = self.create_client(
+        self.ssl_verify = ssl_verify
+        self.shared_session = shared_session
+        self._owns_client = True
+        self._client = self.create_client(
             timeout=timeout,
             event_hooks=event_hooks,
             ssl_verify=ssl_verify,
@@ -518,6 +522,22 @@ class AsyncHTTPHandler:
         )
         self.client_alias = client_alias
 
+    @property
+    def client(self) -> httpx.AsyncClient:
+        if self._owns_client and self._client.is_closed:
+            self._client = self.create_client(
+                timeout=self.timeout,
+                event_hooks=self.event_hooks,
+                ssl_verify=self.ssl_verify,
+                shared_session=self.shared_session,
+            )
+        return self._client
+
+    @client.setter
+    def client(self, client: httpx.AsyncClient) -> None:
+        self._client = client
+        self._owns_client = False
+
     def create_client(
         self,
         timeout: float | httpx.Timeout | None,
@@ -557,14 +577,14 @@ class AsyncHTTPHandler:
 
     async def close(self):
         # Close the client when you're done with it
-        await self.client.aclose()
+        await self._client.aclose()
 
     async def __aenter__(self):
         return self.client
 
     async def __aexit__(self):
         # close the client when exiting
-        await self.client.aclose()
+        await self._client.aclose()
 
     async def get(
         self,
@@ -1069,37 +1089,50 @@ class HTTPHandler:
         disable_default_headers: bool
         | None = False,  # arize phoenix returns different API responses when user agent header in request
     ):
-        if timeout is None:
-            timeout = _DEFAULT_TIMEOUT
+        self.timeout = timeout
+        self.ssl_verify = ssl_verify
+        self.disable_default_headers = disable_default_headers
+        self._owns_client = client is None
+        self._heal_lock = threading.Lock()
+        self._client = self.create_client() if client is None else client
 
+    def create_client(self) -> httpx.Client:
         # Get unified SSL configuration
-        ssl_config: Final = get_ssl_configuration(ssl_verify)
+        ssl_config: Final = get_ssl_configuration(self.ssl_verify)
 
         # An SSL certificate used by the requested host to authenticate the client.
         # /path/to/client.pem
         cert: Final = os.getenv("SSL_CERTIFICATE", litellm.ssl_certificate)
 
         # Get default headers (User-Agent, overridable via LITELLM_USER_AGENT)
-        default_headers: Final = get_default_headers() if not disable_default_headers else None
+        default_headers: Final = get_default_headers() if not self.disable_default_headers else None
 
-        if client is None:
-            transport: Final = self._create_sync_transport()
+        # Create a client with a connection pool
+        return httpx.Client(
+            transport=self._create_sync_transport(),
+            timeout=self.timeout if self.timeout is not None else _DEFAULT_TIMEOUT,
+            verify=ssl_config,
+            cert=cert,
+            headers=default_headers,
+            follow_redirects=True,
+        )
 
-            # Create a client with a connection pool
-            self.client = httpx.Client(
-                transport=transport,
-                timeout=timeout,
-                verify=ssl_config,
-                cert=cert,
-                headers=default_headers,
-                follow_redirects=True,
-            )
-        else:
-            self.client = client
+    @property
+    def client(self) -> httpx.Client:
+        if self._owns_client and self._client.is_closed:
+            with self._heal_lock:
+                if self._owns_client and self._client.is_closed:
+                    self._client = self.create_client()
+        return self._client
+
+    @client.setter
+    def client(self, client: httpx.Client) -> None:
+        self._client = client
+        self._owns_client = False
 
     def close(self):
         # Close the client when you're done with it
-        self.client.close()
+        self._client.close()
 
     def get(
         self,
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_async_client_cleanup.py b/tests/test_litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_async_client_cleanup.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e8fb0808019
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_async_client_cleanup.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import pytest
+
+import litellm
+from litellm.llms.custom_httpx.async_client_cleanup import close_litellm_async_clients
+from litellm.llms.custom_httpx.http_handler import AsyncHTTPHandler
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_second_cleanup_pass_does_not_resurrect_owned_client():
+    handler = AsyncHTTPHandler()
+    original_client = handler._client
+    cache_key = "test-cleanup-no-resurrect"
+    litellm.in_memory_llm_clients_cache.cache_dict[cache_key] = handler
+    try:
+        await close_litellm_async_clients()
+        assert original_client.is_closed
+        await close_litellm_async_clients()
+    finally:
+        litellm.in_memory_llm_clients_cache.cache_dict.pop(cache_key, None)
+
+    assert handler._client is original_client
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_http_handler.py b/tests/test_litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_http_handler.py
index 87d67e0e8b7..35db698ad76 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_http_handler.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_http_handler.py
@@ -793,3 +793,134 @@ class TestDefaultCachedClientTimeoutHonorsRequestTimeout:
         litellm.in_memory_llm_clients_cache = LLMClientCache()
         client = get_async_httpx_client(llm_provider=LlmProviders.BEDROCK)
         assert client.timeout.read == 300.0
+
+
+async def _read_http_request(reader: asyncio.StreamReader) -> None:
+    raw = b""
+    while b"\r\n\r\n" not in raw:
+        chunk = await reader.read(1024)
+        if not chunk:
+            return
+        raw += chunk
+    head, _, body = raw.partition(b"\r\n\r\n")
+    content_length = next(
+        (int(line.split(b":", 1)[1]) for line in head.split(b"\r\n") if line.lower().startswith(b"content-length")),
+        0,
+    )
+    while len(body) < content_length:
+        body += await reader.read(content_length - len(body))
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_init_held_async_handler_survives_external_client_close():
+    handler = AsyncHTTPHandler(timeout=42.5)
+    held_client = handler.client
+    await held_client.aclose()
+    assert held_client.is_closed
+
+    async def respond(reader: asyncio.StreamReader, writer: asyncio.StreamWriter) -> None:
+        await _read_http_request(reader)
+        writer.write(b"HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Length: 2\r\nConnection: close\r\n\r\nok")
+        await writer.drain()
+        writer.close()
+
+    server = await asyncio.start_server(respond, "127.0.0.1", 0)
+    port = server.sockets[0].getsockname()[1]
+    try:
+        response = await handler.post(f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}/v1/compress", json={"messages": []})
+    finally:
+        server.close()
+        await server.wait_closed()
+
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert handler.client is not held_client
+    assert handler.client.timeout == httpx.Timeout(42.5)
+    await handler.close()
+
+
+def test_init_held_sync_handler_recreates_closed_client():
+    from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
+
+    class OkRequestHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
+        def do_GET(self):
+            self.send_response(200)
+            self.send_header("Content-Length", "2")
+            self.end_headers()
+            self.wfile.write(b"ok")
+
+        def log_message(self, format, *args):
+            pass
+
+    handler = HTTPHandler(timeout=7)
+    held_client = handler.client
+    held_client.close()
+
+    server = HTTPServer(("127.0.0.1", 0), OkRequestHandler)
+    thread = threading.Thread(target=server.serve_forever, daemon=True)
+    thread.start()
+    try:
+        response = handler.get(f"http://127.0.0.1:{server.server_port}/")
+    finally:
+        server.shutdown()
+        server.server_close()
+        thread.join(timeout=5)
+
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert handler.client is not held_client
+    assert handler.client.timeout == httpx.Timeout(7)
+    handler.close()
+
+
+def test_caller_supplied_sync_client_is_not_replaced_when_closed():
+    supplied = httpx.Client()
+    handler = HTTPHandler(client=supplied)
+    supplied.close()
+    assert handler.client is supplied
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_assigned_async_client_is_not_replaced():
+    handler = AsyncHTTPHandler()
+    await handler.client.aclose()
+    replacement = MagicMock()
+    handler.client = replacement
+    assert handler.client is replacement
+
+
+def test_concurrent_sync_heal_creates_exactly_one_replacement():
+    class GatedHealHandler(HTTPHandler):
+        def __init__(self):
+            self.heal_started = threading.Event()
+            self.release_heal = threading.Event()
+            self.heal_calls = 0
+            super().__init__(timeout=7)
+
+        def create_client(self) -> httpx.Client:
+            if hasattr(self, "_client"):
+                self.heal_calls += 1
+                self.heal_started.set()
+                assert self.release_heal.wait(timeout=5)
+            return super().create_client()
+
+    handler = GatedHealHandler()
+    handler.client.close()
+
+    seen = []
+
+    def grab_client():
+        seen.append(handler.client)
+
+    first = threading.Thread(target=grab_client)
+    second = threading.Thread(target=grab_client)
+    first.start()
+    assert handler.heal_started.wait(timeout=5)
+    second.start()
+    second.join(timeout=0.3)
+    handler.release_heal.set()
+    first.join(timeout=5)
+    second.join(timeout=5)
+
+    assert handler.heal_calls == 1
+    assert seen[0] is seen[1]
+    assert not seen[0].is_closed
+    handler.close()