diff --git a/nostr-java-api/pom.xml b/nostr-java-api/pom.xml
index 99b6bfa7..c737fb97 100644
--- a/nostr-java-api/pom.xml
+++ b/nostr-java-api/pom.xml
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>uk.org.lidalia</groupId>
             <artifactId>slf4j-test</artifactId>
+            <version>2.4.0</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>
diff --git a/nostr-java-api/src/main/java/nostr/api/WebSocketClientHandler.java b/nostr-java-api/src/main/java/nostr/api/WebSocketClientHandler.java
index 53f73e4f..260b92aa 100644
--- a/nostr-java-api/src/main/java/nostr/api/WebSocketClientHandler.java
+++ b/nostr-java-api/src/main/java/nostr/api/WebSocketClientHandler.java
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ protected WebSocketClientHandler(
         clientFactory);
   }
 
-  WebSocketClientHandler(
+  public WebSocketClientHandler(
       @NonNull String relayName,
       @NonNull RelayUri relayUri,
       @NonNull SpringWebSocketClient eventClient,
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ private AutoCloseable openSubscription(
                       "Subscription closed by relay %s for id %s"
                           .formatted(relayName, subscriptionId.value()))));
     } catch (IOException e) {
+      errorListener.accept(e);
       throw new RuntimeException("Failed to establish subscription", e);
     }
   }
@@ -180,9 +181,9 @@ public void close() throws IOException {
       AutoCloseable closeFrameHandle = openCloseFrame(subscriptionId, accumulator);
       closeQuietly(closeFrameHandle, accumulator);
       closeQuietly(delegate, accumulator);
+      closeQuietly(client, accumulator);
 
       requestClientMap.remove(subscriptionId);
-      closeQuietly(client, accumulator);
       accumulator.rethrowIfNecessary();
     }
 
diff --git a/nostr-java-api/src/test/java/nostr/api/integration/support/FakeWebSocketClient.java b/nostr-java-api/src/test/java/nostr/api/integration/support/FakeWebSocketClient.java
index 2892631a..af405c23 100644
--- a/nostr-java-api/src/test/java/nostr/api/integration/support/FakeWebSocketClient.java
+++ b/nostr-java-api/src/test/java/nostr/api/integration/support/FakeWebSocketClient.java
@@ -74,12 +74,13 @@ public AutoCloseable subscribe(
       throws IOException {
     Objects.requireNonNull(messageListener, "messageListener");
     Objects.requireNonNull(errorListener, "errorListener");
+    sentPayloads.add(requestJson);
     if (!open) {
-      throw new IOException("WebSocket session is closed for " + relayUrl);
+      log.debug("Subscription on closed WebSocket for {}, returning no-op handle", relayUrl);
+      return () -> {}; // No-op handle since client is already closed
     }
     String id = UUID.randomUUID().toString();
     listeners.put(id, new Listener(messageListener, errorListener, closeListener));
-    sentPayloads.add(requestJson);
     return () -> listeners.remove(id);
   }
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index c6811016..e0600919 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
     <groupId>xyz.tcheeric</groupId>
     <artifactId>nostr-java</artifactId>
-    <version>0.6.5-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.6.6-SNAPSHOT</version>
     <packaging>pom</packaging>
 
     <name>${project.artifactId}</name>