diff --git a/apm-agent-core/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/AbstractIntakeApiHandler.java b/apm-agent-core/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/AbstractIntakeApiHandler.java
index f10f8dc0d4..27f694d7c4 100644
--- a/apm-agent-core/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/AbstractIntakeApiHandler.java
+++ b/apm-agent-core/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/AbstractIntakeApiHandler.java
@@ -218,11 +218,15 @@ private void endRequest(boolean isFailed) {
                     onRequestError(-1, writtenBytes, connection.getErrorStream(), e);
                 }
             } finally {
-                HttpUtils.consumeAndClose(connection);
+                HttpURLConnection connectionToClose = connection;
                 connection = null;
                 os = null;
                 countingOs = null;
-                deflater.reset();
+                try {
+                    HttpUtils.consumeAndClose(connectionToClose);
+                } finally {
+                    deflater.reset();
+                }
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/apm-agent-core/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/HttpUtils.java b/apm-agent-core/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/HttpUtils.java
index b34aeb24c3..19b3b1ea16 100644
--- a/apm-agent-core/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/HttpUtils.java
+++ b/apm-agent-core/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/HttpUtils.java
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
  */
 package co.elastic.apm.agent.report;
 
+import co.elastic.apm.agent.sdk.logging.Logger;
+import co.elastic.apm.agent.sdk.logging.LoggerFactory;
 import org.stagemonitor.util.IOUtils;
 
 import javax.annotation.Nullable;
@@ -29,6 +31,8 @@
 
 public class HttpUtils {
 
+    private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(HttpUtils.class);
+
     private HttpUtils() {
     }
 
@@ -57,12 +61,23 @@ public static String readToString(final InputStream inputStream) throws IOExcept
      */
     public static void consumeAndClose(@Nullable HttpURLConnection connection) {
         if (connection != null) {
-            IOUtils.consumeAndClose(connection.getErrorStream());
+            try {
+                IOUtils.consumeAndClose(connection.getErrorStream());
+            } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+                logSuppressedException(e);
+            }
             try {
                 IOUtils.consumeAndClose(connection.getInputStream());
             } catch (IOException ignored) {
                 // silently ignored
+            } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+                logSuppressedException(e);
             }
         }
     }
+
+    private static void logSuppressedException(RuntimeException e) {
+        logger.warn("Suppressed exception while consuming APM Server response: {}", e.getMessage());
+        logger.debug("Exception while consuming APM Server response", e);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/apm-agent-core/src/test/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/HttpUtilsTest.java b/apm-agent-core/src/test/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/HttpUtilsTest.java
index 031844d0d2..7e4f06d8af 100644
--- a/apm-agent-core/src/test/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/HttpUtilsTest.java
+++ b/apm-agent-core/src/test/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/HttpUtilsTest.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
 
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertDoesNotThrow;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.doReturn;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.doThrow;
@@ -60,6 +61,26 @@ void consumeAndCloseException() throws IOException {
         verify(errorStream).close();
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void consumeAndCloseRuntimeException() throws IOException {
+        HttpURLConnection connection = mock(HttpURLConnection.class);
+        doThrow(new NullPointerException("broken connection")).when(connection).getInputStream();
+
+        assertDoesNotThrow(() -> HttpUtils.consumeAndClose(connection));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void consumeAndCloseResponseAfterErrorStreamRuntimeException() throws IOException {
+        HttpURLConnection connection = mock(HttpURLConnection.class);
+        doThrow(new NullPointerException("broken error stream")).when(connection).getErrorStream();
+        InputStream responseStream = mockEmptyInputStream();
+        doReturn(responseStream).when(connection).getInputStream();
+
+        assertDoesNotThrow(() -> HttpUtils.consumeAndClose(connection));
+
+        verify(responseStream).close();
+    }
+
     @Test
     void consumeAndCloseResponseContent() throws IOException {
         HttpURLConnection connection = mock(HttpURLConnection.class);
diff --git a/apm-agent-core/src/test/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/IntakeV2ReportingEventHandlerTest.java b/apm-agent-core/src/test/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/IntakeV2ReportingEventHandlerTest.java
index d3469bb3a7..d39a592400 100644
--- a/apm-agent-core/src/test/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/IntakeV2ReportingEventHandlerTest.java
+++ b/apm-agent-core/src/test/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/IntakeV2ReportingEventHandlerTest.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import co.elastic.apm.agent.impl.transaction.TransactionImpl;
 import co.elastic.apm.agent.report.processor.ProcessorEventHandler;
 import co.elastic.apm.agent.report.serialize.DslJsonSerializer;
+import co.elastic.apm.agent.report.serialize.SerializationConstants;
 import com.dslplatform.json.DslJson;
 import com.dslplatform.json.JsonWriter;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStreamReader;
+import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
 import java.net.MalformedURLException;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.util.Collections;
@@ -66,6 +68,8 @@
 import static com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock.client.WireMock.serviceUnavailable;
 import static com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock.client.WireMock.urlEqualTo;
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatThrownBy;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.doThrow;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 
 class IntakeV2ReportingEventHandlerTest {
@@ -104,6 +108,7 @@ void setUp() throws Exception {
         final ConfigurationRegistry configurationRegistry = SpyConfiguration.createSpyConfig();
         final ReporterConfigurationImpl reporterConfiguration = configurationRegistry.getConfig(ReporterConfigurationImpl.class);
         final CoreConfigurationImpl coreConfiguration = configurationRegistry.getConfig(CoreConfigurationImpl.class);
+        SerializationConstants.init(coreConfiguration);
         SystemInfo system = new SystemInfo("x64", "localhost", null, "platform");
         final ProcessInfo title = new ProcessInfo("title");
         final ServiceImpl service = new ServiceImpl();
@@ -191,6 +196,25 @@ void testNoopWhenNotConnected() throws Exception {
         assertThat(nonConnectedReportingEventHandler.getBufferSize()).isEqualTo(0);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void testCleanupFailureDoesNotRetainConnection() throws Exception {
+        reportTransaction(reportingEventHandler);
+        reportingEventHandler.endRequest();
+
+        HttpURLConnection failedConnection = mock(HttpURLConnection.class);
+        doThrow(new AssertionError("cleanup failed")).when(failedConnection).getInputStream();
+        reportingEventHandler.connection = failedConnection;
+
+        assertThatThrownBy(reportingEventHandler::endRequest)
+            .isInstanceOf(AssertionError.class)
+            .hasMessage("cleanup failed");
+        assertThat(reportingEventHandler.connection).isNull();
+
+        reportTransaction(reportingEventHandler);
+        reportingEventHandler.endRequest();
+        mockApmServer1.verify(2, postRequestedFor(urlEqualTo(INTAKE_V2_URL)));
+    }
+
     @Test
     void testShutDown() throws Exception {
         reportTransaction(reportingEventHandler);