diff --git a/intercept/chatcompletions/streaming_test.go b/intercept/chatcompletions/streaming_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7d8d4d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/intercept/chatcompletions/streaming_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+package chatcompletions
+
+import (
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"strconv"
+	"testing"
+
+	"cdr.dev/slog/v3"
+	"cdr.dev/slog/v3/sloggers/slogtest"
+	"github.com/coder/aibridge/config"
+	"github.com/coder/aibridge/internal/testutil"
+	"github.com/google/uuid"
+	"github.com/openai/openai-go/v3"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel"
+)
+
+// Test that when the upstream provider returns an error before streaming starts,
+// the error status code and body are correctly relayed to the client.
+func TestStreamingInterception_RelaysUpstreamErrorToClient(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name           string
+		statusCode     int
+		responseBody   string
+		expectedErrStr string
+		expectedBody   string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:           "bad request error",
+			statusCode:     http.StatusBadRequest,
+			responseBody:   `{"error":{"message":"Invalid request","type":"invalid_request_error","code":"invalid_request"}}`,
+			expectedErrStr: strconv.Itoa(http.StatusBadRequest),
+			expectedBody:   "invalid_request",
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "rate limit error",
+			statusCode:     http.StatusTooManyRequests,
+			responseBody:   `{"error":{"message":"Rate limit exceeded","type":"rate_limit_error","code":"rate_limit_exceeded"}}`,
+			expectedErrStr: strconv.Itoa(http.StatusTooManyRequests),
+			expectedBody:   "rate_limit",
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "internal server error",
+			statusCode:     http.StatusInternalServerError,
+			responseBody:   `{"error":{"message":"Internal server error","type":"server_error","code":"internal_error"}}`,
+			expectedErrStr: strconv.Itoa(http.StatusInternalServerError),
+			expectedBody:   "server_error",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range tests {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+
+			// Setup a mock server that returns an error immediately (before any streaming)
+			mockServer := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+				w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+				w.Header().Set("x-should-retry", "false")
+				w.WriteHeader(tc.statusCode)
+				_, _ = w.Write([]byte(tc.responseBody))
+			}))
+			t.Cleanup(mockServer.Close)
+
+			// Create interceptor with mock server URL
+			cfg := config.OpenAI{
+				BaseURL: mockServer.URL,
+				Key:     "test-key",
+			}
+
+			req := &ChatCompletionNewParamsWrapper{
+				ChatCompletionNewParams: openai.ChatCompletionNewParams{
+					Model: "gpt-4",
+					Messages: []openai.ChatCompletionMessageParamUnion{
+						openai.UserMessage("hello"),
+					},
+				},
+				Stream: true,
+			}
+
+			tracer := otel.Tracer("test")
+			interceptor := NewStreamingInterceptor(uuid.New(), req, cfg, tracer)
+
+			logger := slogtest.Make(t, &slogtest.Options{IgnoreErrors: false}).Leveled(slog.LevelDebug)
+			interceptor.Setup(logger, &testutil.MockRecorder{}, nil)
+
+			// Create test request
+			w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+			httpReq := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodPost, "/chat/completions", nil)
+
+			// Process the request
+			err := interceptor.ProcessRequest(w, httpReq)
+
+			// Verify error was returned
+			require.Error(t, err)
+			assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), tc.expectedErrStr)
+
+			// Verify status code was written to response
+			assert.Equal(t, tc.statusCode, w.Code, "expected status code to be relayed to client")
+
+			// Verify error body contains expected error info
+			body := w.Body.String()
+			assert.Contains(t, body, tc.expectedBody, "expected error type in response body")
+		})
+	}
+}