diff --git a/src/aws-cpp-sdk-core/source/http/HttpClientFactory.cpp b/src/aws-cpp-sdk-core/source/http/HttpClientFactory.cpp
index 51453adf103..714e43d4109 100644
--- a/src/aws-cpp-sdk-core/source/http/HttpClientFactory.cpp
+++ b/src/aws-cpp-sdk-core/source/http/HttpClientFactory.cpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
  */
 
 #include <aws/core/http/HttpClientFactory.h>
+#include <aws/core/internal/AWSHttpResourceClient.h>
 
 #if AWS_SDK_USE_CRT_HTTP
 #include <aws/core/http/crt/CRTHttpClient.h>
@@ -181,6 +182,8 @@ namespace Aws
         {
             if(GetHttpClientFactory())
             {
+                Aws::Internal::CleanupEC2MetadataClient();
+
                 GetHttpClientFactory()->CleanupStaticState();
                 GetHttpClientFactory() = nullptr;
             }
@@ -190,6 +193,8 @@ namespace Aws
         {
             CleanupHttp();
             GetHttpClientFactory() = factory;
+
+            Aws::Internal::InitEC2MetadataClient();
         }
 
         std::shared_ptr<HttpClient> CreateHttpClient(const Aws::Client::ClientConfiguration& clientConfiguration)
diff --git a/src/aws-cpp-sdk-core/source/http/curl/CurlHttpClient.cpp b/src/aws-cpp-sdk-core/source/http/curl/CurlHttpClient.cpp
index adf0378fde2..b721d5e78da 100644
--- a/src/aws-cpp-sdk-core/source/http/curl/CurlHttpClient.cpp
+++ b/src/aws-cpp-sdk-core/source/http/curl/CurlHttpClient.cpp
@@ -506,10 +506,15 @@ void CurlHttpClient::InitGlobalState()
             << ", ssl version: " << curlVersionData->ssl_version);
         isInit = true;
 #ifdef USE_AWS_MEMORY_MANAGEMENT
-        curl_global_init_mem(CURL_GLOBAL_ALL, &malloc_callback, &free_callback, &realloc_callback, &strdup_callback, &calloc_callback);
+        CURLcode curlResponseCode = curl_global_init_mem(CURL_GLOBAL_ALL, &malloc_callback, &free_callback, &realloc_callback, &strdup_callback, &calloc_callback);
 #else
-        curl_global_init(CURL_GLOBAL_ALL);
+        CURLcode curlResponseCode = curl_global_init(CURL_GLOBAL_ALL);
 #endif
+        if (curlResponseCode != CURLE_OK)
+        {
+            AWS_LOGSTREAM_FATAL(CURL_HTTP_CLIENT_TAG, "Failed to init curl, return code " << curlResponseCode);
+            isInit = false;
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -517,6 +522,7 @@ void CurlHttpClient::InitGlobalState()
 void CurlHttpClient::CleanupGlobalState()
 {
     curl_global_cleanup();
+    isInit = false;
 }
 
 Aws::String CurlInfoTypeToString(curl_infotype type)
diff --git a/src/aws-cpp-sdk-core/source/internal/AWSHttpResourceClient.cpp b/src/aws-cpp-sdk-core/source/internal/AWSHttpResourceClient.cpp
index 2af39e6098f..a559090e7a3 100644
--- a/src/aws-cpp-sdk-core/source/internal/AWSHttpResourceClient.cpp
+++ b/src/aws-cpp-sdk-core/source/internal/AWSHttpResourceClient.cpp
@@ -131,10 +131,20 @@ namespace Aws
         AmazonWebServiceResult<Aws::String> AWSHttpResourceClient::GetResourceWithAWSWebServiceResult(const std::shared_ptr<HttpRequest> &httpRequest) const
         {
             AWS_LOGSTREAM_TRACE(m_logtag.c_str(), "Retrieving credentials from " << httpRequest->GetURIString());
+            if (!m_httpClient)
+            {
+                AWS_LOGSTREAM_FATAL(m_logtag.c_str(), "Unable to get a response: missing http client!");
+                return {{}, {}, HttpResponseCode::REQUEST_NOT_MADE};
+            }
 
             for (long retries = 0;; retries++)
             {
                 std::shared_ptr<HttpResponse> response(m_httpClient->MakeRequest(httpRequest));
+                if (!response)
+                {
+                    AWS_LOGSTREAM_FATAL(m_logtag.c_str(), "Unable to get a response: http client returned a nullptr!");
+                    return {{}, {}, HttpResponseCode::NO_RESPONSE};
+                }
 
                 if (response->GetResponseCode() == HttpResponseCode::OK)
                 {
diff --git a/tests/aws-cpp-sdk-eventbridge-tests/EventBridgeTests.cpp b/tests/aws-cpp-sdk-eventbridge-tests/EventBridgeTests.cpp
index 3aee4e542ae..cd0892f4143 100644
--- a/tests/aws-cpp-sdk-eventbridge-tests/EventBridgeTests.cpp
+++ b/tests/aws-cpp-sdk-eventbridge-tests/EventBridgeTests.cpp
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ static std::shared_ptr<Aws::Http::Standard::StandardHttpResponse> buildEventBrid
 
 TEST_F(EventBridgeTests, TestPutEventsBasic)
 {
-    Aws::Client::ClientConfiguration clientConfig;
+    Aws::Client::ClientConfiguration clientConfig("default", true);
     clientConfig.region = "us-east-1";
     Aws::Auth::AWSCredentials mockCreds("accessKey", "secretKey", "sessionToken");
 
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ TEST_F(EventBridgeTests, TestPutEventsBasic)
 
 TEST_F(EventBridgeTests, TestPutEventsMultiRegional)
 {
-    Aws::Client::ClientConfiguration clientConfig;
+    Aws::Client::ClientConfiguration clientConfig("default", true);
     clientConfig.region = "us-east-1";
     Aws::Auth::AWSCredentials mockCreds("accessKey", "secretKey", "sessionToken");
 
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ TEST_F(EventBridgeTests, TestPutEventsEndpointTests)
     for(size_t tcIdx = 0; tcIdx < TEST_CASES.size(); ++tcIdx)
     {
         const EventBridgeEndpointTestCase& testCase = TEST_CASES[tcIdx];
-        Aws::Client::ClientConfiguration clientConfig;
+        Aws::Client::ClientConfiguration clientConfig("default", true);
         clientConfig.region = testCase.clientRegion;
         clientConfig.useDualStack = testCase.useDualStackEndpoint;
         clientConfig.useFIPS = testCase.useFipsEndpoint;