diff --git a/src/utils/axiosUtils.ts b/src/utils/axiosUtils.ts
index f9f0d46..1dd64e2 100644
--- a/src/utils/axiosUtils.ts
+++ b/src/utils/axiosUtils.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ export async function axiosGet(
       return await axios.get(url);
     }
   } catch (error) {
+    // Failed streaming requests still own a response socket. Release it before
+    // returning or throwing so registry fallback cannot keep the process alive.
+    if (axiosOptions.responseType === 'stream') {
+      error.response?.data?.destroy?.();
+    }
     if (error.response?.status === 401) {
       return error.response;
     } else {
diff --git a/test/utils/axiosUtils.test.ts b/test/utils/axiosUtils.test.ts
index 3f5f733..8c39876 100644
--- a/test/utils/axiosUtils.test.ts
+++ b/test/utils/axiosUtils.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
+import { Readable } from 'stream';
 import axios from 'axios';
 import { HttpsProxyAgent } from 'https-proxy-agent';
+import { DefaultRegistryClient } from '../../src/registry/DefaultRegistryClient';
 import { axiosGet } from '../../src/utils/axiosUtils';
 
 describe('axiosUtils', () => {
@@ -12,10 +14,65 @@ describe('axiosUtils', () => {
 
   afterEach(() => {
     delete process.env.HTTPS_PROXY;
-    getSpy.mockClear();
+    getSpy.mockReset();
   });
 
   describe('#axiosGet', () => {
+    it('releases failed response streams before falling back to another registry', async () => {
+      const failedStream = Readable.from(['Not found']);
+      const tarballStream = Readable.from(['tarball']);
+      getSpy
+        .mockRejectedValueOnce({ response: { status: 404, data: failedStream } })
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce({ status: 200, data: tarballStream });
+      // Explicitly use the built-in registries regardless of the environment.
+      const previousRegistry = process.env.FPL_REGISTRY;
+      delete process.env.FPL_REGISTRY;
+      try {
+        const result = await new DefaultRegistryClient({}).download('us.nlm.vsac', '0.24.0');
+        expect(result).toBe(tarballStream);
+        expect(failedStream.destroyed).toBeTrue();
+        expect(tarballStream.destroyed).toBeFalse();
+        expect(getSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+      } finally {
+        if (previousRegistry !== undefined) process.env.FPL_REGISTRY = previousRegistry;
+        tarballStream.destroy();
+      }
+    });
+
+    it('releases a failed response stream and rethrows the original error', async () => {
+      const data = Readable.from(['Server error']);
+      const error = { response: { status: 500, data } };
+      getSpy.mockRejectedValueOnce(error);
+      await expect(
+        axiosGet('https://example.org/package', { responseType: 'stream' })
+      ).rejects.toBe(error);
+      expect(data.destroyed).toBeTrue();
+    });
+
+    it('releases unauthorized response streams while still returning the response', async () => {
+      const data = Readable.from(['Unauthorized']);
+      const response = { status: 401, data };
+      getSpy.mockRejectedValueOnce({ response });
+      await expect(
+        axiosGet('https://example.org/package', { responseType: 'stream' })
+      ).resolves.toBe(response);
+      expect(data.destroyed).toBeTrue();
+    });
+
+    it('preserves errors without a response when requesting a stream', async () => {
+      const error = new Error('Connection failed');
+      getSpy.mockRejectedValueOnce(error);
+      await expect(
+        axiosGet('https://example.org/package', { responseType: 'stream' })
+      ).rejects.toBe(error);
+    });
+
+    it('preserves non-stream error responses', async () => {
+      const response = { status: 401, data: { message: 'Unauthorized' } };
+      getSpy.mockRejectedValueOnce({ response });
+      await expect(axiosGet('https://example.org/package')).resolves.toBe(response);
+    });
+
     it('returns get with responseType assigned when it is used as argument', async () => {
       getSpy.mockImplementationOnce(() => Promise.resolve({}));
       await axiosGet('packages.fhir.org/de.basisprofil.r4/1.1.0', { responseType: 'arraybuffer' });