diff --git a/mcp/mcp-server/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/mcp/server/HttpMcpClient.java b/mcp/mcp-server/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/mcp/server/HttpMcpClient.java
index a1078f613..5bb414c02 100644
--- a/mcp/mcp-server/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/mcp/server/HttpMcpClient.java
+++ b/mcp/mcp-server/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/mcp/server/HttpMcpClient.java
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 public final class HttpMcpClient extends McpRemoteClient {
     private static final InternalLogger LOG = InternalLogger.getLogger(HttpMcpClient.class);
     private static final int UPSTREAM_HTTP_ERROR_CODE = -32000;
+    private static final long MAX_DISCARDED_BODY_BYTES = 8 * 1024;
 
     private final ClientTransport<HttpRequest, HttpResponse> transport;
     private final URI endpoint;
@@ -246,6 +247,13 @@ private JsonRpcResponse exchange(JsonRpcRequest request, boolean allowSessionRec
                 return handleErrorResponse(response, request);
             }
 
+            // A notification has no JSON-RPC response. Streamable HTTP accepts one with 202 and no body,
+            // but some servers send a body anyway (e.g. "{}"), so discard it instead of parsing it.
+            if (request.getId() == null) {
+                discardBody(response);
+                return null;
+            }
+
             // Check if response is SSE
             String contentType = response.body().contentType();
             if (contentType != null && contentType.startsWith("text/event-stream")) {
@@ -264,6 +272,19 @@ private JsonRpcResponse exchange(JsonRpcRequest request, boolean allowSessionRec
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Reads a short body of known length so the connection can be reused, and closes anything longer,
+     * of unknown length, or streaming without reading it.
+     */
+    private static void discardBody(HttpResponse response) {
+        var body = response.body();
+        if (body != null && body.hasKnownLength() && body.contentLength() <= MAX_DISCARDED_BODY_BYTES) {
+            ByteBufferUtils.getBytes(body.asByteBuffer());
+        } else {
+            response.close();
+        }
+    }
+
     private JsonRpcResponse sessionRecoveryFailure(
             JsonRpcRequest request,
             boolean ownedRecovery
diff --git a/mcp/mcp-server/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/mcp/server/HttpMcpClientTest.java b/mcp/mcp-server/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/mcp/server/HttpMcpClientTest.java
index 5619a66fd..0b84211f8 100644
--- a/mcp/mcp-server/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/mcp/server/HttpMcpClientTest.java
+++ b/mcp/mcp-server/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/mcp/server/HttpMcpClientTest.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 import java.math.BigInteger;
 import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -300,6 +301,96 @@ void testNotificationAcceptsEmptySuccessfulResponse() throws IOException {
         assertNull(proxy.exchange(notification));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void testNotificationIgnoresBodyOfAcceptedResponse() throws IOException {
+        // Some servers answer an accepted notification with 202 and a JSON body such as "{}"
+        // instead of no body.
+        mockServer.removeContext("/mcp");
+        mockServer.createContext("/mcp", exchange -> {
+            exchange.getRequestBody().readAllBytes();
+            writeJson(exchange, 202, "{}");
+        });
+
+        var notification = JsonRpcRequest.builder()
+                .method(McpMethod.Standard.NOTIFICATIONS_INITIALIZED.wireName())
+                .jsonrpc("2.0")
+                .build();
+
+        assertNull(proxy.exchange(notification));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testNotificationDoesNotReadAStreamingResponseBody() throws Exception {
+        // A server that answers a notification with a never-ending stream must not block the
+        // client or make it buffer the stream.
+        var release = new CountDownLatch(1);
+        mockServer.removeContext("/mcp");
+        mockServer.createContext("/mcp", exchange -> {
+            exchange.getRequestBody().readAllBytes();
+            exchange.getResponseHeaders().set("Content-Type", "text/event-stream");
+            exchange.sendResponseHeaders(202, 0);
+            try (var output = exchange.getResponseBody()) {
+                output.write("data: {}\n\n".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+                output.flush();
+                release.await(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+                Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+            } catch (IOException ignored) {
+                // The client closed the stream.
+            }
+        });
+
+        var notification = JsonRpcRequest.builder()
+                .method(McpMethod.Standard.NOTIFICATIONS_INITIALIZED.wireName())
+                .jsonrpc("2.0")
+                .build();
+        try {
+            assertTimeoutPreemptively(Duration.ofSeconds(5), () -> assertNull(proxy.exchange(notification)));
+        } finally {
+            release.countDown();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void initializeSucceedsWhenInitializedNotificationIsAcceptedWithABody() throws IOException {
+        mockServer.removeContext("/mcp");
+        mockServer.createContext("/mcp", exchange -> {
+            var request = JsonRpcRequest.builder()
+                    .deserialize(JSON_CODEC.createDeserializer(exchange.getRequestBody().readAllBytes()))
+                    .build();
+            if (request.getId() == null) {
+                writeJson(exchange, 202, "{}");
+            } else if (McpHttpBinding.isInitialize(request)) {
+                writeJson(exchange,
+                        200,
+                        "{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":1,\"result\":{\"protocolVersion\":\"2025-03-26\"}}");
+            } else {
+                writeJson(exchange, 200, "{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":2,\"result\":\"pong\"}");
+            }
+        });
+
+        var protocol = BuiltInProtocols.protocol(KnownProtocolVersion.V2025_06_18);
+        assertDoesNotThrow(() -> proxy.initialize(
+                ignored -> {},
+                ignored -> {},
+                JsonRpcRequest.builder()
+                        .method(McpMethod.Standard.INITIALIZE.wireName())
+                        .id(Document.of(1))
+                        .jsonrpc("2.0")
+                        .params(Document.of(Map.of(
+                                "protocolVersion",
+                                Document.of(protocol.id().identifier()))))
+                        .build(),
+                protocol));
+
+        var response = proxy.exchange(JsonRpcRequest.builder()
+                .method(McpMethod.Standard.PING.wireName())
+                .id(Document.of(2))
+                .jsonrpc("2.0")
+                .build());
+        assertEquals("pong", response.getResult().asString());
+    }
+
     @Test
     void testRpcHttpError() throws IOException {
         mockServer.removeContext("/mcp");