diff --git a/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/admin/KafkaAdminClient.java b/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/admin/KafkaAdminClient.java
index fa9440dfb9102..1691897c376bc 100644
--- a/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/admin/KafkaAdminClient.java
+++ b/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/admin/KafkaAdminClient.java
@@ -955,7 +955,10 @@ private void handleTimeoutFailure(long now, Throwable cause) {
                 log.debug("{} timed out at {} after {} attempt(s)", this, now, tries,
                     new Exception(prettyPrintException(cause)));
             }
-            if (cause instanceof TimeoutException) {
+            // Don't mask OutOfMemoryError as TimeoutException - propagate it directly
+            if (cause instanceof OutOfMemoryError) {
+                handleFailure(cause);
+            } else if (cause instanceof TimeoutException) {
                 handleFailure(cause);
             } else {
                 handleFailure(new TimeoutException(this + " timed out at " + now
diff --git a/clients/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/admin/KafkaAdminClientTest.java b/clients/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/admin/KafkaAdminClientTest.java
index 93f6daaf8ec8f..5b6c1b156d65c 100644
--- a/clients/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/admin/KafkaAdminClientTest.java
+++ b/clients/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/admin/KafkaAdminClientTest.java
@@ -325,6 +325,7 @@
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.doThrow;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mockStatic;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.spy;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
 /**
@@ -11749,4 +11750,84 @@ public void testDescribeTopicsTimeoutWhenNoBrokerResponds() throws Exception {
             assertTrue(duration >= 150L && duration < 30000);
         }
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Test that OutOfMemoryError is properly propagated and not masked as TimeoutException.
+     * This test simulates an OOM error during response processing and verifies it propagates
+     * without being wrapped. This is a regression test for KAFKA-19932.
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void testOutOfMemoryErrorPropagation() throws Exception {
+        MockTime time = new MockTime();
+        try (AdminClientUnitTestEnv env = new AdminClientUnitTestEnv(time, mockCluster(1, 0),
+                AdminClientConfig.RETRIES_CONFIG, "2",
+                AdminClientConfig.RETRY_BACKOFF_MS_CONFIG, "100")) {
+            env.kafkaClient().setNodeApiVersions(NodeApiVersions.create());
+
+            // Create a spy of MetadataResponse that throws OutOfMemoryError when topicMetadata() is accessed
+            // The AdminClient calls response.topicMetadata() in listTopics handleResponse(), which will trigger the OOM
+            MetadataResponseData data = new MetadataResponseData();
+            MetadataResponse realResponse = new MetadataResponse(data, ApiKeys.METADATA.latestVersion());
+            MetadataResponse spyResponse = spy(realResponse);
+
+            // Configure the spy to throw OutOfMemoryError when topicMetadata() is called
+            // This simulates an OOM occurring during response processing
+            doThrow(new OutOfMemoryError("Simulated OOM during response handling"))
+                .when(spyResponse).topicMetadata();
+
+            // Prepare the mocked response that will throw OOM
+            env.kafkaClient().prepareResponse(spyResponse);
+
+            // Make the listTopics call - this will internally trigger a metadata request
+            ListTopicsResult result = env.adminClient().listTopics(new ListTopicsOptions().timeoutMs(10000));
+
+            // The OOM should propagate as-is, not be wrapped in TimeoutException
+            // We expect ExecutionException wrapping the OutOfMemoryError (this is standard Future behavior)
+            ExecutionException exception = assertThrows(ExecutionException.class, () -> result.names().get());
+            assertInstanceOf(OutOfMemoryError.class, exception.getCause(),
+                    "Expected OutOfMemoryError to be propagated, but got: " + exception.getCause());
+            assertEquals("Simulated OOM during response handling", exception.getCause().getMessage());
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test that OutOfMemoryError is not masked as TimeoutException even when deadline expires.
+     * This verifies that OOM errors take precedence over timeout handling.
+     * This is a regression test for KAFKA-19932.
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void testOutOfMemoryErrorNotMaskedOnTimeout() throws Exception {
+        MockTime time = new MockTime();
+        try (AdminClientUnitTestEnv env = new AdminClientUnitTestEnv(time, mockCluster(1, 0),
+                AdminClientConfig.RETRIES_CONFIG, "0",
+                AdminClientConfig.REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS_CONFIG, "1000")) {
+            env.kafkaClient().setNodeApiVersions(NodeApiVersions.create());
+
+            // Create a spy that throws OOM when accessed
+            MetadataResponseData data = new MetadataResponseData();
+            MetadataResponse realResponse = new MetadataResponse(data, ApiKeys.METADATA.latestVersion());
+            MetadataResponse spyResponse = spy(realResponse);
+
+            // Configure spy to throw OOM when topicMetadata() is accessed
+            // This is the actual method called by AdminClient during response processing
+            doThrow(new OutOfMemoryError("Simulated OOM during response handling with timeout"))
+                .when(spyResponse).topicMetadata();
+
+            // Prepare the response
+            env.kafkaClient().prepareResponse(spyResponse);
+
+            // Make the call with a short timeout
+            ListTopicsResult result = env.adminClient().listTopics(new ListTopicsOptions().timeoutMs(1000));
+
+            // Advance time to exceed the timeout - this tests that even when timeout occurs,
+            // the OOM error is still propagated instead of being masked by TimeoutException
+            time.sleep(1500);
+
+            // Even with timeout expired, OOM should still propagate as-is, not wrapped in TimeoutException
+            ExecutionException exception = assertThrows(ExecutionException.class, () -> result.names().get());
+            assertInstanceOf(OutOfMemoryError.class, exception.getCause(),
+                    "Expected OutOfMemoryError to be propagated even on timeout, but got: " + exception.getCause());
+            assertEquals("Simulated OOM during response handling with timeout", exception.getCause().getMessage());
+        }
+    }
 }