diff --git a/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/http_handler.py b/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/http_handler.py
index f1aa5627dc..133b904a02 100644
--- a/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/http_handler.py
+++ b/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/http_handler.py
@@ -99,13 +99,22 @@ class AsyncHTTPHandler:
     ):
         self.timeout = timeout
         self.event_hooks = event_hooks
-        self.client = self.create_client(
-            timeout=timeout,
-            concurrent_limit=concurrent_limit,
-            event_hooks=event_hooks,
-            ssl_verify=ssl_verify,
-        )
+        self.concurrent_limit = concurrent_limit
         self.client_alias = client_alias
+        self.ssl_verify = ssl_verify
+        self._client: Optional[httpx.AsyncClient] = None
+
+    @property
+    def client(self) -> httpx.AsyncClient:
+        # Optimization--lazy load the client. This is actually not super fast to create (10s of ms)
+        if self._client is None:
+            self._client = self.create_client(
+                timeout=self.timeout,
+                concurrent_limit=self.concurrent_limit,
+                event_hooks=self.event_hooks,
+                ssl_verify=self.ssl_verify,
+            )
+        return self._client
 
     def create_client(
         self,
@@ -485,27 +494,36 @@ class HTTPHandler:
         # /path/to/client.pem
         cert = os.getenv("SSL_CERTIFICATE", litellm.ssl_certificate)
 
-        if client is None:
+        self.timeout = timeout
+        self.concurrent_limit = concurrent_limit
+        self.ssl_verify = ssl_verify
+        self.cert = cert
+        self._client = client
+
+    @property
+    def client(self) -> httpx.Client:
+        # Optimization--lazy load the client
+        if self._client is None:
             transport = self._create_sync_transport()
 
             # Create a client with a connection pool
-            self.client = httpx.Client(
+            self._client = httpx.Client(
                 transport=transport,
-                timeout=timeout,
+                timeout=self.timeout,
                 limits=httpx.Limits(
-                    max_connections=concurrent_limit,
-                    max_keepalive_connections=concurrent_limit,
+                    max_connections=self.concurrent_limit,
+                    max_keepalive_connections=self.concurrent_limit,
                 ),
-                verify=ssl_verify,
-                cert=cert,
+                verify=self.ssl_verify,
+                cert=self.cert,
                 headers=headers,
             )
-        else:
-            self.client = client
+        return self._client
 
     def close(self):
         # Close the client when you're done with it
-        self.client.close()
+        if self._client is not None:
+            self._client.close()
 
     def get(
         self,
diff --git a/tests/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_http_handler.py b/tests/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_http_handler.py
index 9ab8e24f85..c23e716b63 100644
--- a/tests/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_http_handler.py
+++ b/tests/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_http_handler.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import io
 import os
 import pathlib
+import respx
 import ssl
 import sys
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock
@@ -27,3 +28,29 @@ async def test_ssl_security_level(monkeypatch):
 
     # Verify that the SSL context exists and has the correct cipher string
     assert isinstance(ssl_context, ssl.SSLContext)
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_basic_async_request(respx_mock: respx.MockRouter):
+    respx_mock.get("https://api.example.com").respond(
+        json={"message": "Hello, world!"}
+    )
+
+    # Create async client with SSL verification disabled to isolate SSL context testing
+    client = AsyncHTTPHandler(ssl_verify=False)
+
+    response = await client.get("https://api.example.com")
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert response.json() == {"message": "Hello, world!"}
+
+
+def test_basic_sync_request(respx_mock: respx.MockRouter):
+    respx_mock.get("https://api.example.com").respond(
+        json={"message": "Hello, world!"}
+    )
+
+    # Create async client with SSL verification disabled to isolate SSL context testing
+    client = HTTPHandler(ssl_verify=False)
+
+    response = client.get("https://api.example.com")
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert response.json() == {"message": "Hello, world!"}