diff --git a/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/evaluate.py b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/evaluate.py
index 671d7fce70c..8796b6037d0 100644
--- a/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/evaluate.py
+++ b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/evaluate.py
@@ -23,11 +23,11 @@
     unresolved_model_refs,
 )
 from nemo_evaluator.jobs.result_persistence import persist_evaluate_result
+from nemo_evaluator.jobs.utils import run_with_isolated_async_sdk
 from nemo_evaluator.metric_refs import MetricRefOrInline
 from nemo_evaluator.shared.metric_bundles.bundles import unbundle_metric
 from nemo_evaluator_sdk import Evaluator
 from nemo_evaluator_sdk.execution.config import resolve_params
-from nemo_evaluator_sdk.execution.metric_execution import run_sync
 from nemo_evaluator_sdk.values import (
     Agent,
     AgentBase,
@@ -89,20 +89,19 @@ def _resolve_run_dataset(
         return dataset
 
     destination = str(ctx.storage.persistent / "dataset")
-    if async_sdk is not None:
-        return run_sync(
-            lambda: download_dataset(
-                sdk=async_sdk,
-                dataset=dataset,
-                destination=destination,
-            )
-        )
+    # Prefer sync when available; async path isolates httpx so later run_sync calls
+    # (result persistence) can reuse the injected async_sdk.
     if sdk is not None:
         return download_dataset_sync(
             sdk=sdk,
             dataset=dataset,
             destination=destination,
         )
+    if async_sdk is not None:
+        return run_with_isolated_async_sdk(
+            async_sdk,
+            lambda sdk: download_dataset(sdk=sdk, dataset=dataset, destination=destination),
+        )
     raise ValueError("FilesetRef datasets require an SDK client for local evaluator job execution.")
 
 
diff --git a/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/publication.py b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/publication.py
index a6bc485fa98..5e7fff3cea5 100644
--- a/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/publication.py
+++ b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/publication.py
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@
 
 from nemo_evaluator.intake.publish import PublishError, PublishReport, publish_to_intake
 from nemo_evaluator.jobs.agent_spec import IntakePublicationSpec, Target, target_agent_identity
+from nemo_evaluator.jobs.utils import run_with_isolated_async_sdk
 from nemo_evaluator_sdk.agent_eval.results import AgentEvalResult
-from nemo_evaluator_sdk.execution.metric_execution import run_sync
 from nemo_platform import AsyncNeMoPlatform
 from nemo_platform._exceptions import NeMoPlatformError, NotFoundError
 from nemo_platform_plugin.jobs.schemas import PlatformJobStatus
@@ -153,15 +153,16 @@ def fail(error: str, report: PublishReport | None = None) -> PublicationOutcome:
         workspace,
     )
     try:
-        report = run_sync(
-            lambda: _publish(
+        report = run_with_isolated_async_sdk(
+            async_sdk,
+            lambda sdk: _publish(
                 result,
-                platform=async_sdk,
+                platform=sdk,
                 spec=spec,
                 workspace=workspace,
                 agent_name=agent_name,
                 model_name=model_name,
-            )
+            ),
         )
     except PublishError as error:
         return fail(str(error), error.report)
diff --git a/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/result_persistence.py b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/result_persistence.py
index 5f71ac3eccb..b3a32b24c0e 100644
--- a/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/result_persistence.py
+++ b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/result_persistence.py
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@
     ModelTarget,
     Target,
 )
+from nemo_evaluator.jobs.utils import run_with_isolated_async_sdk
 from nemo_evaluator_sdk.agent_eval.results import AgentEvalResult
-from nemo_evaluator_sdk.execution.metric_execution import run_sync
 from nemo_evaluator_sdk.values import Agent, AgentBase, Model
 from nemo_evaluator_sdk.values.multi_metric_results import BenchmarkEvaluationResult
 from nemo_evaluator_sdk.values.results import EvaluationResult
@@ -107,15 +107,20 @@ def _row_target_fields(target: Model | Agent | None) -> tuple[str | None, str |
 
 
 def _persist(entity: EntityBase, *, async_sdk: AsyncNeMoPlatform | None) -> None:
-    client = _entity_client(async_sdk)
-    if client is None:
+    if async_sdk is None:
         logger.info("No async task SDK injected; skipping result-entity persistence (platformless local run).")
         return
     # Best-effort: the eval has already succeeded and the full bundle is saved, so a transient
     # entity-store error must not fail the job — the record is re-derivable from the bundle. Log
     # loudly and move on. (`save` is create-or-update, so a re-run of the same job id is idempotent.)
     try:
-        run_sync(lambda: client.save(entity))
+
+        async def _save(sdk: AsyncNeMoPlatform) -> EntityBase:
+            client = _entity_client(sdk)
+            assert client is not None
+            return await client.save(entity)
+
+        run_with_isolated_async_sdk(async_sdk, _save)
     except Exception:
         logger.exception(
             "Failed to persist result entity %r in workspace %r; the result bundle is still saved",
diff --git a/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/utils.py b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..43145757869
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/src/nemo_evaluator/jobs/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+"""Shared helpers for evaluator plugin jobs."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from collections.abc import Awaitable, Callable
+from typing import TypeVar
+
+from nemo_evaluator_sdk.execution.metric_execution import run_sync
+from nemo_platform import AsyncNeMoPlatform, DefaultAsyncHttpxClient
+
+T = TypeVar("T")
+
+
+def run_with_isolated_async_sdk(
+    async_sdk: AsyncNeMoPlatform,
+    fn: Callable[[AsyncNeMoPlatform], Awaitable[T]],
+) -> T:
+    """Run ``fn(cloned_sdk)`` via ``run_sync`` without binding ``async_sdk``'s httpx client.
+
+    Clones ``async_sdk`` onto a throwaway httpx client for the duration of ``fn`` so the injected
+    client's transport is not bound to this temporary event loop (and later ``run_sync`` calls can
+    still reuse ``async_sdk``).
+    """
+
+    async def _run() -> T:
+        async with DefaultAsyncHttpxClient() as http_client:
+            return await fn(async_sdk.copy(http_client=http_client))
+
+    return run_sync(_run)
diff --git a/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/jobs/test_publication.py b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/jobs/test_publication.py
index 310aa20eda1..2af1160a362 100644
--- a/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/jobs/test_publication.py
+++ b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/jobs/test_publication.py
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.atif_calls: list[dict[str, Any]] = []
         self.eval_result_calls: list[dict[str, Any]] = []
         self.trace_calls: _SessionIds = []
+        self.copy_calls = 0
         self.evaluations = _FakeEvaluations(missing=missing_evaluation, error=preflight_error)
         self.intake = SimpleNamespace(
             ingest=SimpleNamespace(atif=_FakeIngest(self.atif_calls, error=ingest_error)),
@@ -124,6 +125,11 @@ def __init__(
             traces=_FakeTraces(self.trace_calls),
         )
 
+    def copy(self, **kwargs: Any) -> _FakeClient:
+        del kwargs
+        self.copy_calls += 1
+        return self
+
 
 def _client(**kwargs: Any) -> AsyncNeMoPlatform:
     return cast(AsyncNeMoPlatform, _FakeClient(**kwargs))
@@ -267,6 +273,7 @@ def test_publishes_and_reports_what_landed() -> None:
     client = _FakeClient()
     outcome = _publish(cast(AsyncNeMoPlatform, client))
 
+    assert client.copy_calls == 1
     assert outcome.status == PlatformJobStatus.COMPLETED
     assert outcome.evaluation_id == "eval-1"
     assert outcome.trial_count == 1
diff --git a/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/jobs/test_utils.py b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/jobs/test_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..54dce48972b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/jobs/test_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+"""Unit tests for evaluator job helpers."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from nemo_evaluator.jobs.utils import run_with_isolated_async_sdk
+from pytest_mock import MockerFixture
+
+
+def test_run_with_isolated_async_sdk_passes_cloned_client(mocker: MockerFixture) -> None:
+    cloned = mocker.Mock(name="cloned_sdk")
+    async_sdk = mocker.Mock(name="async_sdk")
+    async_sdk.copy.return_value = cloned
+    http_client = mocker.AsyncMock(name="http_client")
+    http_client.__aenter__.return_value = http_client
+    http_client.__aexit__.return_value = None
+    mocker.patch("nemo_evaluator.jobs.utils.DefaultAsyncHttpxClient", return_value=http_client)
+
+    seen: list[object] = []
+
+    async def fn(sdk: object) -> int:
+        seen.append(sdk)
+        return 42
+
+    assert run_with_isolated_async_sdk(async_sdk, fn) == 42
+    async_sdk.copy.assert_called_once_with(http_client=http_client)
+    assert seen == [cloned]
diff --git a/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/test_evaluate_job.py b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/test_evaluate_job.py
index b37a5bfde80..069d85ccb35 100644
--- a/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/test_evaluate_job.py
+++ b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/test_evaluate_job.py
@@ -1202,16 +1202,23 @@ def test_downloads_fileset_ref_dataset_and_passes_path_to_sdk_evaluator(
             create=True,
         )
         download_dataset_sync = mocker.patch("nemo_evaluator.jobs.evaluate.download_dataset_sync", create=True)
+        cloned_sdk = mocker.Mock(name="cloned_async_sdk")
+        async_sdk = mocker.Mock(name="async_sdk")
+        async_sdk.copy.return_value = cloned_sdk
+        http_client = mocker.AsyncMock(name="http_client")
+        http_client.__aenter__.return_value = http_client
+        http_client.__aexit__.return_value = None
+        mocker.patch("nemo_evaluator.jobs.utils.DefaultAsyncHttpxClient", return_value=http_client)
         ctx = _make_job_context(tmp_path)
-        async_sdk = mocker.Mock()
         dataset = FilesetRef(root="default/helpsteer2#validation.jsonl")
         config = {**_exact_match_spec(), "dataset": dataset}
 
         run_result = EvaluateJob().run(config, ctx=ctx, async_sdk=async_sdk)
 
         _assert_saved_result_artifact(run_result, ctx, result_payload)
+        async_sdk.copy.assert_called_once_with(http_client=http_client)
         download_dataset.assert_awaited_once_with(
-            sdk=async_sdk,
+            sdk=cloned_sdk,
             dataset=dataset,
             destination=str(ctx.storage.persistent / "dataset"),
         )
@@ -1259,6 +1266,42 @@ def test_downloads_fileset_ref_dataset_with_sync_sdk_and_passes_path_to_sdk_eval
         assert call_kwargs["target"] is None
         assert call_kwargs["prompt_template"] is None
 
+    def test_prefers_sync_sdk_for_fileset_ref_when_both_sdks_injected(
+        self, tmp_path: Path, mocker: MockerFixture
+    ) -> None:
+        """Avoid binding async_sdk's httpx client before result-entity persistence."""
+        result = _empty_evaluation_result()
+        result_payload = result.model_dump(mode="json")
+        evaluator = mocker.Mock()
+        evaluator.run_sync.return_value = result
+        mocker.patch("nemo_evaluator.jobs.evaluate.Evaluator", return_value=evaluator)
+        downloaded_path = tmp_path / "persistent" / "dataset" / "default" / "helpsteer2" / "validation.jsonl"
+        download_dataset = mocker.patch("nemo_evaluator.jobs.evaluate.download_dataset", create=True)
+        download_dataset_sync = mocker.patch(
+            "nemo_evaluator.jobs.evaluate.download_dataset_sync",
+            return_value=downloaded_path,
+            create=True,
+        )
+        persist = mocker.patch("nemo_evaluator.jobs.evaluate.persist_evaluate_result")
+        ctx = _make_job_context(tmp_path)
+        sync_sdk = mocker.Mock()
+        async_sdk = mocker.Mock()
+        dataset = FilesetRef(root="default/helpsteer2#validation.jsonl")
+        config = {**_exact_match_spec(), "dataset": dataset}
+
+        run_result = EvaluateJob().run(config, ctx=ctx, sdk=sync_sdk, async_sdk=async_sdk)
+
+        _assert_saved_result_artifact(run_result, ctx, result_payload)
+        download_dataset.assert_not_called()
+        download_dataset_sync.assert_called_once_with(
+            sdk=sync_sdk,
+            dataset=dataset,
+            destination=str(ctx.storage.persistent / "dataset"),
+        )
+        persist.assert_called_once()
+        assert persist.call_args.kwargs["async_sdk"] is async_sdk
+        assert persist.call_args.kwargs["dataset_ref"] == dataset.root
+
 
 class TestEvaluateTask:
     """Coverage for the compiled container task entrypoint."""
diff --git a/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/test_result_persistence.py b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/test_result_persistence.py
index 54a2e6839cf..d73ac71886f 100644
--- a/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/test_result_persistence.py
+++ b/plugins/nemo-evaluator/tests/test_result_persistence.py
@@ -40,9 +40,22 @@
 from nemo_platform_plugin.job_results import LocalJobResults
 from pytest_mock import MockerFixture
 
+
 # An opaque stand-in for the async task SDK: every test that reaches the save path patches
 # `_entity_client`, so the value is never used as a real client — only its presence matters.
-_ASYNC_SDK = cast(AsyncNeMoPlatform, object())
+# ``copy`` returns self so ``run_with_isolated_async_sdk`` can isolate a throwaway httpx client.
+class _FakeAsyncSdk:
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self.copy_calls = 0
+
+    def copy(self, **kwargs: object) -> _FakeAsyncSdk:
+        del kwargs
+        self.copy_calls += 1
+        return self
+
+
+_ASYNC_SDK_FAKE = _FakeAsyncSdk()
+_ASYNC_SDK = cast(AsyncNeMoPlatform, _ASYNC_SDK_FAKE)
 
 
 def test_entity_client_adapts_async_sdk(mocker: MockerFixture) -> None:
@@ -165,6 +178,7 @@ def _eval_result() -> EvaluationResult:
 def test_persist_agent_eval_result_builds_entity_and_saves(tmp_path: Path, mocker: MockerFixture) -> None:
     client = _FakeClient()
     mocker.patch.object(result_persistence, "_entity_client", return_value=client)
+    _ASYNC_SDK_FAKE.copy_calls = 0
 
     persist_agent_eval_result(
         _agent_result(),
@@ -174,6 +188,7 @@ def test_persist_agent_eval_result_builds_entity_and_saves(tmp_path: Path, mocke
         async_sdk=_ASYNC_SDK,
     )
 
+    assert _ASYNC_SDK_FAKE.copy_calls == 1
     (entity,) = client.saved
     assert isinstance(entity, AgentEvalResultEntity)
     assert entity.name == "job-1"