diff --git a/exporter/exporterhelper/internal/persistent_queue.go b/exporter/exporterhelper/internal/persistent_queue.go
index e766d703e03..821ac8f9d45 100644
--- a/exporter/exporterhelper/internal/persistent_queue.go
+++ b/exporter/exporterhelper/internal/persistent_queue.go
@@ -246,10 +246,10 @@ func (pq *persistentQueue[T]) getNextItem(ctx context.Context) (T, func(error),
 	if pq.readIndex == pq.writeIndex {
 		return request, nil, false
 	}
+
 	index := pq.readIndex
 	// Increase here, so even if errors happen below, it always iterates
 	pq.readIndex++
-
 	pq.currentlyDispatchedItems = append(pq.currentlyDispatchedItems, index)
 	getOp := storage.GetOperation(getItemKey(index))
 	err := pq.client.Batch(ctx,
@@ -274,21 +274,26 @@ func (pq *persistentQueue[T]) getNextItem(ctx context.Context) (T, func(error),
 	// Increase the reference count, so the client is not closed while the request is being processed.
 	pq.refClient++
 	return request, func(consumeErr error) {
+		// Delete the item from the persistent storage after it was processed.
+		pq.mu.Lock()
+		// Always unref client even if the consumer is shutdown because we always ref it for every valid request.
+		defer func() {
+			if err = pq.unrefClient(ctx); err != nil {
+				pq.set.Logger.Error("Error closing the storage client", zap.Error(err))
+			}
+			pq.mu.Unlock()
+		}()
+
 		if errors.As(consumeErr, &shutdownErr{}) {
 			// The queue is shutting down, don't mark the item as dispatched, so it's picked up again after restart.
 			// TODO: Handle partially delivered requests by updating their values in the storage.
 			return
 		}
 
-		// Delete the item from the persistent storage after it was processed.
-		pq.mu.Lock()
-		defer pq.mu.Unlock()
 		if err = pq.itemDispatchingFinish(ctx, index); err != nil {
 			pq.set.Logger.Error("Error deleting item from queue", zap.Error(err))
 		}
-		if err = pq.unrefClient(ctx); err != nil {
-			pq.set.Logger.Error("Error closing the storage client", zap.Error(err))
-		}
+
 	}, true
 }