diff --git a/test/jdk/java/net/vthread/HttpALot.java b/test/jdk/java/net/vthread/HttpALot.java
index c016824a92a..6418e103a35 100644
--- a/test/jdk/java/net/vthread/HttpALot.java
+++ b/test/jdk/java/net/vthread/HttpALot.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2020, 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2020, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
  * questions.
  */
 
-/**
+/*
  * @test
  * @bug 8284161
  * @summary Stress test the HTTP protocol handler and HTTP server
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
 import java.net.Proxy;
 import java.net.URL;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 import java.util.concurrent.ThreadFactory;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
@@ -52,6 +53,8 @@
 
 public class HttpALot {
 
+    private static final String HELLO = "Hello";
+
     public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
         int requests = 25_000;
         if (args.length > 0) {
@@ -65,12 +68,20 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
         InetAddress lb = InetAddress.getLoopbackAddress();
         HttpServer server = HttpServer.create(new InetSocketAddress(lb, 0), 1024);
         ThreadFactory factory = Thread.ofVirtual().factory();
-        server.setExecutor(Executors.newThreadPerTaskExecutor(factory));
+        final ExecutorService serverExecutor = Executors.newThreadPerTaskExecutor(factory);
+        server.setExecutor(serverExecutor);
         server.createContext("/hello", e -> {
-            byte[] response = "Hello".getBytes("UTF-8");
-            e.sendResponseHeaders(200, response.length);
-            try (OutputStream out = e.getResponseBody()) {
-                out.write(response);
+            try {
+                byte[] response = HELLO.getBytes("UTF-8");
+                e.sendResponseHeaders(200, response.length);
+                try (OutputStream out = e.getResponseBody()) {
+                    out.write(response);
+                }
+            } catch (Throwable t) {
+                System.err.println("failed to handle request " + e.getRequestURI()
+                        + " due to: " + t);
+                t.printStackTrace();
+                throw t; // let it propagate
             }
             requestsHandled.incrementAndGet();
         });
@@ -85,15 +96,21 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
 
         // go
         server.start();
-        try {
-            factory = Thread.ofVirtual().name("fetcher-", 0).factory();
-            try (var executor = Executors.newThreadPerTaskExecutor(factory)) {
-                for (int i = 1; i <= requests; i++) {
-                    executor.submit(() -> fetch(url)).get();
+        try (serverExecutor) {
+            try {
+                factory = Thread.ofVirtual().name("fetcher-", 0).factory();
+                try (var executor = Executors.newThreadPerTaskExecutor(factory)) {
+                    for (int i = 1; i <= requests; i++) {
+                        final String actual = executor.submit(() -> fetch(url)).get();
+                        if (!HELLO.equals(actual)) {
+                            throw new RuntimeException("unexpected response: \"" + actual
+                                    + "\" for request " + i);
+                        }
+                    }
                 }
+            } finally {
+                server.stop(1);
             }
-        } finally {
-            server.stop(1);
         }
 
         if (requestsHandled.get() < requests) {