diff --git a/lib/bindings/python/rust/engine.rs b/lib/bindings/python/rust/engine.rs
index c26c0f3bb5..dd3bfed42a 100644
--- a/lib/bindings/python/rust/engine.rs
+++ b/lib/bindings/python/rust/engine.rs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 // limitations under the License.
 
 use super::context::{callable_accepts_kwarg, PyContext};
+use futures::stream::{self, StreamExt as FuturesStreamExt};
 use pyo3::prelude::*;
 use pyo3::types::{PyDict, PyModule};
 use pyo3::{PyAny, PyErr};
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ use pyo3_async_runtimes::TaskLocals;
 use pythonize::{depythonize, pythonize};
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use tokio::sync::mpsc;
-use tokio_stream::{wrappers::ReceiverStream, StreamExt};
+use tokio_stream::wrappers::ReceiverStream;
 
 pub use dynamo_runtime::{
     pipeline::{
@@ -96,6 +97,10 @@ impl PythonAsyncEngine {
             Arc::new(event_loop),
         )))
     }
+
+    pub fn block_until_stream_item(&mut self, enabled: bool) {
+        self.0.block_until_stream_item(enabled);
+    }
 }
 
 #[async_trait]
@@ -115,6 +120,7 @@ pub struct PythonServerStreamingEngine {
     generator: Arc<PyObject>,
     event_loop: Arc<PyObject>,
     has_pycontext: bool,
+    block_until_stream_item: bool,
 }
 
 impl PythonServerStreamingEngine {
@@ -133,8 +139,13 @@ impl PythonServerStreamingEngine {
             generator,
             event_loop,
             has_pycontext,
+            block_until_stream_item: false,
         }
     }
+
+    pub fn block_until_stream_item(&mut self, enabled: bool) {
+        self.block_until_stream_item = enabled;
+    }
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
@@ -208,14 +219,46 @@ where
         })
         .await??;
 
-        let stream = Box::pin(stream);
-
         // process the stream
         // any error thrown in the stream will be caught and complete the processing task
         // errors are captured by a task that is watching the processing task
         // the error will be emitted as an annotated error
         let request_id = id.clone();
 
+        let mut stream = Box::pin(stream);
+
+        let stream = if self.block_until_stream_item {
+            let first_item = match FuturesStreamExt::next(&mut stream).await {
+                Some(Ok(item)) => item,
+                Some(Err(e)) => {
+                    // Any Python exception (including HttpError) is already wrapped in PyErr
+                    // The HttpAsyncEngine will inspect this PyErr later to see if it's an HttpError
+                    tracing::warn!(
+                        request_id,
+                        "Python exception occurred before finish of first iteration: {}",
+                        e
+                    );
+                    return Err(Error::new(e));
+                }
+                None => {
+                    tracing::warn!(
+                        request_id,
+                        "python async generator stream ended before processing started"
+                    );
+                    return Err(Error::new(std::io::Error::new(
+                        std::io::ErrorKind::UnexpectedEof,
+                        "python async generator stream ended before processing started",
+                    )));
+                }
+            };
+            // Create a new stream that yields the first item followed by the rest of the original stream
+            let stream =
+                futures::StreamExt::chain(stream::once(futures::future::ok(first_item)), stream);
+            FuturesStreamExt::boxed(stream)
+        } else {
+            stream
+        };
+
         tokio::spawn(async move {
             tracing::debug!(
                 request_id,
@@ -225,7 +268,8 @@ where
             let mut stream = stream;
             let mut count = 0;
 
-            while let Some(item) = stream.next().await {
+            // Fix the third error by explicitly using FuturesStreamExt::next
+            while let Some(item) = FuturesStreamExt::next(&mut stream).await {
                 count += 1;
                 tracing::trace!(
                     request_id,
diff --git a/lib/bindings/python/rust/http.rs b/lib/bindings/python/rust/http.rs
index 3a22092334..e7862d92ba 100644
--- a/lib/bindings/python/rust/http.rs
+++ b/lib/bindings/python/rust/http.rs
@@ -147,6 +147,10 @@ impl HttpAsyncEngine {
     pub fn new(generator: PyObject, event_loop: PyObject) -> PyResult<Self> {
         Ok(PythonAsyncEngine::new(generator, event_loop)?.into())
     }
+
+    pub fn block_until_stream_item(&mut self, enabled: bool) {
+        self.0.block_until_stream_item(enabled);
+    }
 }
 
 #[async_trait]