diff --git a/lib/needle.js b/lib/needle.js
index e153b92eb..7b64b7782 100644
--- a/lib/needle.js
+++ b/lib/needle.js
@@ -572,6 +572,10 @@ Needle.prototype.send_request = function(count, method, uri, config, post_data,
 
         if (auth_header) {
           config.headers['authorization'] = auth_header;
+          // Destroy the old request to prevent the unauthenticated digest request from causing the needle promise to catch/reject
+          // This is especially an issue with application/octet-stream request bodies where the server can cause the connection to reset
+          request.destroy();
+
           return self.send_request(count, method, uri, config, post_data, out, callback);
         }
       }