diff --git a/.changeset/fix-sse-reader-lock-leak.md b/.changeset/fix-sse-reader-lock-leak.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cf9936205
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/fix-sse-reader-lock-leak.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@modelcontextprotocol/sdk': patch
+---
+
+Fix SSE client memory leak: release the reader lock on disconnect so the underlying reader-tied buffer (~50MB per long-lived client) can be garbage-collected.
diff --git a/src/client/streamableHttp.ts b/src/client/streamableHttp.ts
index 736587973..5278be858 100644
--- a/src/client/streamableHttp.ts
+++ b/src/client/streamableHttp.ts
@@ -328,40 +328,47 @@ export class StreamableHTTPClientTransport implements Transport {
                     )
                     .getReader();
 
-                while (true) {
-                    const { value: event, done } = await reader.read();
-                    if (done) {
-                        break;
-                    }
+                try {
+                    while (true) {
+                        const { value: event, done } = await reader.read();
+                        if (done) {
+                            break;
+                        }
 
-                    // Update last event ID if provided
-                    if (event.id) {
-                        lastEventId = event.id;
-                        // Mark that we've received a priming event - stream is now resumable
-                        hasPrimingEvent = true;
-                        onresumptiontoken?.(event.id);
-                    }
+                        // Update last event ID if provided
+                        if (event.id) {
+                            lastEventId = event.id;
+                            // Mark that we've received a priming event - stream is now resumable
+                            hasPrimingEvent = true;
+                            onresumptiontoken?.(event.id);
+                        }
 
-                    // Skip events with no data (priming events, keep-alives)
-                    if (!event.data) {
-                        continue;
-                    }
+                        // Skip events with no data (priming events, keep-alives)
+                        if (!event.data) {
+                            continue;
+                        }
 
-                    if (!event.event || event.event === 'message') {
-                        try {
-                            const message = JSONRPCMessageSchema.parse(JSON.parse(event.data));
-                            if (isJSONRPCResultResponse(message)) {
-                                // Mark that we received a response - no need to reconnect for this request
-                                receivedResponse = true;
-                                if (replayMessageId !== undefined) {
-                                    message.id = replayMessageId;
+                        if (!event.event || event.event === 'message') {
+                            try {
+                                const message = JSONRPCMessageSchema.parse(JSON.parse(event.data));
+                                if (isJSONRPCResultResponse(message)) {
+                                    // Mark that we received a response - no need to reconnect for this request
+                                    receivedResponse = true;
+                                    if (replayMessageId !== undefined) {
+                                        message.id = replayMessageId;
+                                    }
                                 }
+                                this.onmessage?.(message);
+                            } catch (error) {
+                                this.onerror?.(error as Error);
                             }
-                            this.onmessage?.(message);
-                        } catch (error) {
-                            this.onerror?.(error as Error);
                         }
                     }
+                } finally {
+                    // Release the reader's lock so the underlying stream and its
+                    // buffered chunks can be GC'd. Without this, each disconnect
+                    // leaks the decoder + parser pipeline (~50MB per reconnect).
+                    reader.releaseLock();
                 }
 
                 // Handle graceful server-side disconnect
diff --git a/test/client/streamableHttp.test.ts b/test/client/streamableHttp.test.ts
index 52c8f1074..b98fddad8 100644
--- a/test/client/streamableHttp.test.ts
+++ b/test/client/streamableHttp.test.ts
@@ -1041,6 +1041,67 @@ describe('StreamableHTTPClientTransport', () => {
             // Resumption token callback may be invoked, but the primary assertion
             // here is that no JSON parse errors occurred for the priming event.
         });
+
+        it('should release the SSE reader lock when the stream closes (regression for #1959)', async () => {
+            // Regression test for issue #1959: _handleSseStream acquired a reader via
+            // getReader() but never called releaseLock() on either the success or error
+            // path. That kept the decoder + parser pipeline alive across reconnects,
+            // leaking ~50MB per reconnect cycle.
+            transport = new StreamableHTTPClientTransport(new URL('http://localhost:1234/mcp'), {
+                reconnectionOptions: {
+                    initialReconnectionDelay: 10,
+                    maxRetries: 0,
+                    maxReconnectionDelay: 1000,
+                    reconnectionDelayGrowFactor: 1
+                }
+            });
+
+            // Spy on every reader's releaseLock so we can verify the SSE pipeline is
+            // tidied up on both graceful close and error paths.
+            const releaseSpy = vi.spyOn(ReadableStreamDefaultReader.prototype, 'releaseLock');
+
+            // Graceful-close stream: a single notification then close.
+            const gracefulStream = new ReadableStream({
+                start(controller) {
+                    controller.enqueue(
+                        new TextEncoder().encode('id: evt-1\ndata: {"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"notifications/x","params":{}}\n\n')
+                    );
+                    controller.close();
+                }
+            });
+
+            // Error stream: pipeline aborts mid-read.
+            const erroringStream = new ReadableStream({
+                start(controller) {
+                    controller.error(new Error('boom'));
+                }
+            });
+
+            const fetchMock = global.fetch as Mock;
+            fetchMock.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+                ok: true,
+                status: 200,
+                headers: new Headers({ 'content-type': 'text/event-stream' }),
+                body: gracefulStream
+            });
+            fetchMock.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+                ok: true,
+                status: 200,
+                headers: new Headers({ 'content-type': 'text/event-stream' }),
+                body: erroringStream
+            });
+
+            await transport.start();
+            await transport['_startOrAuthSse']({});
+            await transport['_startOrAuthSse']({});
+            await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(50);
+
+            // releaseLock should have fired for both the graceful-close path and the
+            // error path. Other readers (e.g. those internal to pipeThrough) may also
+            // call releaseLock; we just need both of ours to be released.
+            expect(releaseSpy.mock.calls.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2);
+            releaseSpy.mockRestore();
+        });
     });
 
     it('invalidates all credentials on InvalidClientError during auth', async () => {