diff --git a/java-client/src/main/java/org/opensearch/client/transport/aws/AwsSdk2Transport.java b/java-client/src/main/java/org/opensearch/client/transport/aws/AwsSdk2Transport.java
index eb3274a368..737de115ff 100644
--- a/java-client/src/main/java/org/opensearch/client/transport/aws/AwsSdk2Transport.java
+++ b/java-client/src/main/java/org/opensearch/client/transport/aws/AwsSdk2Transport.java
@@ -194,11 +194,15 @@ public <RequestT, ResponseT, ErrorT> ResponseT performRequest(
             try {
                 return executeAsync((SdkAsyncHttpClient) httpClient, clientReq, requestBody, endpoint, options).get();
             } catch (ExecutionException e) {
-                if (e.getCause() instanceof IOException) {
-                    throw (IOException) e.getCause();
-                } else {
-                    throw new IOException(e.getCause());
+                Throwable cause = e.getCause();
+                if (cause != null) {
+                    if (cause instanceof IOException) {
+                        throw (IOException) cause;
+                    } else {
+                        throw new IOException(cause);
+                    }
                 }
+                throw new IOException(e);
             } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                 throw new IOException("HttpRequest was interrupted", e);
             }
diff --git a/java-client/src/main/java/org/opensearch/client/transport/httpclient5/ApacheHttpClient5Transport.java b/java-client/src/main/java/org/opensearch/client/transport/httpclient5/ApacheHttpClient5Transport.java
index 8d3b14c9dd..032e0fd204 100644
--- a/java-client/src/main/java/org/opensearch/client/transport/httpclient5/ApacheHttpClient5Transport.java
+++ b/java-client/src/main/java/org/opensearch/client/transport/httpclient5/ApacheHttpClient5Transport.java
@@ -143,11 +143,15 @@ public <RequestT, ResponseT, ErrorT> ResponseT performRequest(
         try {
             return performRequestAsync(request, endpoint, options).join();
         } catch (final CompletionException ex) {
-            if (ex.getCause() instanceof IOException) {
-                throw (IOException) ex.getCause();
-            } else {
-                throw new IOException(ex.getCause());
+            Throwable cause = ex.getCause();
+            if (cause != null) {
+                if (cause instanceof IOException) {
+                    throw (IOException) cause;
+                } else {
+                    throw new IOException(cause);
+                }
             }
+            throw new IOException(ex);
         }
     }