diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c67c8e1..f89d479 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 
 ---
 
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Fixed
+
+- Django backend closes clients it automatically opens when a batch send fails, while preserving caller-owned connections for reuse.
+
+---
+
 ## [0.4.0] - 2026-08-12
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/postmark/django/backend.py b/postmark/django/backend.py
index 3fbb800..5c512c4 100644
--- a/postmark/django/backend.py
+++ b/postmark/django/backend.py
@@ -79,19 +79,21 @@ def send_messages(self, email_messages) -> int:
         sent_count = 0
         try:
             client_created = self.open()
-            for start in range(0, len(emails), _BATCH_LIMIT):
-                chunk = emails[start : start + _BATCH_LIMIT]
-                pre_send.send_robust(self.__class__, messages=chunk)
-                responses = self.client.outbound.send_batch(chunk)
-                post_send.send_robust(
-                    self.__class__, messages=chunk, response=responses
-                )
-                failures = [r for r in responses if not r.success]
-                sent_count += len(responses) - len(failures)
-                if failures:
-                    self._raise_for_failures(failures)
-            if client_created:
-                self.close()
+            try:
+                for start in range(0, len(emails), _BATCH_LIMIT):
+                    chunk = emails[start : start + _BATCH_LIMIT]
+                    pre_send.send_robust(self.__class__, messages=chunk)
+                    responses = self.client.outbound.send_batch(chunk)
+                    post_send.send_robust(
+                        self.__class__, messages=chunk, response=responses
+                    )
+                    failures = [r for r in responses if not r.success]
+                    sent_count += len(responses) - len(failures)
+                    if failures:
+                        self._raise_for_failures(failures)
+            finally:
+                if client_created:
+                    self.close()
         except Exception as exc:
             on_exception.send_robust(
                 self.__class__, raw_messages=email_messages, exception=exc
diff --git a/tests/django_backend/test_backend.py b/tests/django_backend/test_backend.py
index 2831f85..d796189 100644
--- a/tests/django_backend/test_backend.py
+++ b/tests/django_backend/test_backend.py
@@ -411,3 +411,58 @@ def test_context_manager_reuses_and_closes_connection(
 
     assert len(fake_sync_client.outbound.calls) == 2
     assert fake_sync_client.closed is True
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("failure_mode", ["transport", "response"])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("already_open", [False, True])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("fail_silently", [False, True])
+def test_send_failure_closes_only_automatically_opened_client(
+    sync_client_factory,
+    fake_sync_client,
+    monkeypatch,
+    failure_mode,
+    already_open,
+    fail_silently,
+):
+    backend = EmailBackend(fail_silently=fail_silently)
+    if already_open:
+        backend.open()
+
+    if failure_mode == "transport":
+
+        def fail_send(messages):
+            raise RuntimeError("local send failure")
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(fake_sync_client.outbound, "send_batch", fail_send)
+        error_type: type[Exception] = RuntimeError
+    else:
+        fake_sync_client.outbound.responses_queue.append(
+            [
+                SendResponse(
+                    To="receiver@example.com",
+                    SubmittedAt="2024-01-01T00:00:00",
+                    MessageID="example",
+                    ErrorCode=300,
+                    Message="local response failure",
+                )
+            ]
+        )
+        error_type = ValidationException
+
+    message = EmailMessage(
+        "Subject", "Body", "sender@example.com", ["receiver@example.com"]
+    )
+    try:
+        if fail_silently:
+            assert backend.send_messages([message]) == 0
+        else:
+            with pytest.raises(error_type):
+                backend.send_messages([message])
+
+        assert fake_sync_client.closed is not already_open
+        if already_open:
+            assert backend.client is fake_sync_client
+        else:
+            assert backend.client is None
+    finally:
+        backend.close()