diff --git a/components/src/dynamo/sglang/request_handlers/llm/decode_handler.py b/components/src/dynamo/sglang/request_handlers/llm/decode_handler.py
index 2e5777c5ff..7b8fe1302f 100644
--- a/components/src/dynamo/sglang/request_handlers/llm/decode_handler.py
+++ b/components/src/dynamo/sglang/request_handlers/llm/decode_handler.py
@@ -164,26 +164,24 @@ async def _process_token_stream(
 
         Yields:
             Dict with token_ids and optional finish_reason.
-
-        Raises:
-            ValueError: If response missing output_ids.
         """
         num_output_tokens_so_far = 0
 
         async for res in stream_source:
+            out = {}
             finish_reason = res["meta_info"]["finish_reason"]
             if finish_reason:
-                out = {"token_ids": [], "finish_reason": finish_reason["type"]}
-            else:
-                try:
-                    next_total_toks = len(res["output_ids"])
-                except KeyError:
-                    raise ValueError(
-                        f"Missing 'output_ids' in response. Response keys: {list(res.keys())}"
-                    )
-                out = {"token_ids": res["output_ids"][num_output_tokens_so_far:]}
-                num_output_tokens_so_far = next_total_toks
+                out["finish_reason"] = finish_reason["type"]
+
+            output_ids = res.get("output_ids", [])
+            # If request is not finished yet, but there are no outputs, return an error.
+            if not output_ids and not finish_reason:
+                yield {"finish_reason": "error", "token_ids": []}
+                break
 
+            next_total_toks = len(output_ids)
+            out["token_ids"] = output_ids[num_output_tokens_so_far:]
+            num_output_tokens_so_far = next_total_toks
             yield out
 
     async def _process_text_stream(