diff --git a/deepgram/clients/common/v1/abstract_async_rest.py b/deepgram/clients/common/v1/abstract_async_rest.py
index 1a3be9cd..3c0d8056 100644
--- a/deepgram/clients/common/v1/abstract_async_rest.py
+++ b/deepgram/clients/common/v1/abstract_async_rest.py
@@ -229,6 +229,13 @@ async def _handle_request(
                     method, _url, headers=_headers, **kwargs
                 )
                 response.raise_for_status()
+
+                # throw exception if response is None or response.text is None
+                if response is None or response.text is None:
+                    raise DeepgramError(
+                        "Response is not available yet. Please try again later."
+                    )
+
                 return response.text
 
         except httpx.HTTPError as e1:
diff --git a/deepgram/clients/common/v1/abstract_sync_rest.py b/deepgram/clients/common/v1/abstract_sync_rest.py
index 5aba233f..cbfd40ef 100644
--- a/deepgram/clients/common/v1/abstract_sync_rest.py
+++ b/deepgram/clients/common/v1/abstract_sync_rest.py
@@ -225,6 +225,13 @@ def _handle_request(
                     kwargs.pop("transport")
                 response = client.request(method, _url, headers=_headers, **kwargs)
                 response.raise_for_status()
+
+                # throw exception if response is None or response.text is None
+                if response is None or response.text is None:
+                    raise DeepgramError(
+                        "Response is not available yet. Please try again later."
+                    )
+
                 return response.text
 
         except httpx.HTTPError as e1: