diff --git a/sdk-api-gen/src/test/java/dev/restate/sdk/CodegenTest.java b/sdk-api-gen/src/test/java/dev/restate/sdk/CodegenTest.java
index 0b73e4cc..128b2f14 100644
--- a/sdk-api-gen/src/test/java/dev/restate/sdk/CodegenTest.java
+++ b/sdk-api-gen/src/test/java/dev/restate/sdk/CodegenTest.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import dev.restate.sdk.core.ProtoUtils;
 import dev.restate.sdk.core.TestDefinitions;
 import dev.restate.sdk.core.TestDefinitions.TestSuite;
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
@@ -182,6 +183,14 @@ public String sharedHandler(SharedWorkflowContext context, String myInput) {
     }
   }
 
+  @Service
+  static class CheckedException {
+    @Handler
+    String greet(Context context, String request) throws IOException {
+      return request;
+    }
+  }
+
   @Override
   public Stream<TestDefinitions.TestDefinition> definitions() {
     return Stream.of(
diff --git a/sdk-api/src/main/java/dev/restate/sdk/HandlerRunner.java b/sdk-api/src/main/java/dev/restate/sdk/HandlerRunner.java
index 9f123741..f19e2dcd 100644
--- a/sdk-api/src/main/java/dev/restate/sdk/HandlerRunner.java
+++ b/sdk-api/src/main/java/dev/restate/sdk/HandlerRunner.java
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@
 package dev.restate.sdk;
 
 import dev.restate.sdk.common.TerminalException;
+import dev.restate.sdk.common.function.ThrowingBiConsumer;
+import dev.restate.sdk.common.function.ThrowingBiFunction;
+import dev.restate.sdk.common.function.ThrowingConsumer;
+import dev.restate.sdk.common.function.ThrowingFunction;
 import dev.restate.sdk.common.syscalls.HandlerSpecification;
 import dev.restate.sdk.common.syscalls.SyscallCallback;
 import dev.restate.sdk.common.syscalls.Syscalls;
@@ -16,10 +20,6 @@
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
-import java.util.function.BiConsumer;
-import java.util.function.BiFunction;
-import java.util.function.Consumer;
-import java.util.function.Function;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 import org.jspecify.annotations.Nullable;
@@ -27,13 +27,13 @@
 /** Adapter class for {@link dev.restate.sdk.common.syscalls.HandlerRunner} to use the Java API. */
 public class HandlerRunner<REQ, RES>
     implements dev.restate.sdk.common.syscalls.HandlerRunner<REQ, RES, HandlerRunner.Options> {
-  private final BiFunction<Context, REQ, RES> runner;
+  private final ThrowingBiFunction<Context, REQ, RES> runner;
 
   private static final Logger LOG = LogManager.getLogger(HandlerRunner.class);
 
-  HandlerRunner(BiFunction<? extends Context, REQ, RES> runner) {
+  HandlerRunner(ThrowingBiFunction<? extends Context, REQ, RES> runner) {
     //noinspection unchecked
-    this.runner = (BiFunction<Context, REQ, RES>) runner;
+    this.runner = (ThrowingBiFunction<Context, REQ, RES>) runner;
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -106,18 +106,19 @@ public void run(
   }
 
   public static <CTX extends Context, REQ, RES> HandlerRunner<REQ, RES> of(
-      BiFunction<CTX, REQ, RES> runner) {
+      ThrowingBiFunction<CTX, REQ, RES> runner) {
     return new HandlerRunner<>(runner);
   }
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-  public static <CTX extends Context, RES> HandlerRunner<Void, RES> of(Function<CTX, RES> runner) {
+  public static <CTX extends Context, RES> HandlerRunner<Void, RES> of(
+      ThrowingFunction<CTX, RES> runner) {
     return new HandlerRunner<>((context, o) -> runner.apply((CTX) context));
   }
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   public static <CTX extends Context, REQ> HandlerRunner<REQ, Void> of(
-      BiConsumer<CTX, REQ> runner) {
+      ThrowingBiConsumer<CTX, REQ> runner) {
     return new HandlerRunner<>(
         (context, o) -> {
           runner.accept((CTX) context, o);
@@ -126,7 +127,7 @@ public static <CTX extends Context, REQ> HandlerRunner<REQ, Void> of(
   }
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-  public static <CTX extends Context> HandlerRunner<Void, Void> of(Consumer<CTX> runner) {
+  public static <CTX extends Context> HandlerRunner<Void, Void> of(ThrowingConsumer<CTX> runner) {
     return new HandlerRunner<>(
         (ctx, o) -> {
           runner.accept((CTX) ctx);
diff --git a/sdk-api/src/test/java/dev/restate/sdk/JavaBlockingTests.java b/sdk-api/src/test/java/dev/restate/sdk/JavaBlockingTests.java
index 99e0dde3..cf1ec6b1 100644
--- a/sdk-api/src/test/java/dev/restate/sdk/JavaBlockingTests.java
+++ b/sdk-api/src/test/java/dev/restate/sdk/JavaBlockingTests.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 import dev.restate.sdk.common.HandlerType;
 import dev.restate.sdk.common.Serde;
 import dev.restate.sdk.common.ServiceType;
+import dev.restate.sdk.common.function.ThrowingBiFunction;
 import dev.restate.sdk.common.syscalls.HandlerDefinition;
 import dev.restate.sdk.common.syscalls.HandlerSpecification;
 import dev.restate.sdk.common.syscalls.ServiceDefinition;
@@ -24,7 +25,6 @@
 import dev.restate.sdk.core.TestDefinitions.TestSuite;
 import dev.restate.sdk.core.TestRunner;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.function.BiFunction;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
 public class JavaBlockingTests extends TestRunner {
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ public Stream<TestSuite> definitions() {
   }
 
   public static <T, R> TestInvocationBuilder testDefinitionForService(
-      String name, Serde<T> reqSerde, Serde<R> resSerde, BiFunction<Context, T, R> runner) {
+      String name, Serde<T> reqSerde, Serde<R> resSerde, ThrowingBiFunction<Context, T, R> runner) {
     return TestDefinitions.testInvocation(
         ServiceDefinition.of(
             name,
@@ -65,7 +65,10 @@ public static <T, R> TestInvocationBuilder testDefinitionForService(
   }
 
   public static <T, R> TestInvocationBuilder testDefinitionForVirtualObject(
-      String name, Serde<T> reqSerde, Serde<R> resSerde, BiFunction<ObjectContext, T, R> runner) {
+      String name,
+      Serde<T> reqSerde,
+      Serde<R> resSerde,
+      ThrowingBiFunction<ObjectContext, T, R> runner) {
     return TestDefinitions.testInvocation(
         ServiceDefinition.of(
             name,
@@ -78,7 +81,10 @@ public static <T, R> TestInvocationBuilder testDefinitionForVirtualObject(
   }
 
   public static <T, R> TestInvocationBuilder testDefinitionForWorkflow(
-      String name, Serde<T> reqSerde, Serde<R> resSerde, BiFunction<WorkflowContext, T, R> runner) {
+      String name,
+      Serde<T> reqSerde,
+      Serde<R> resSerde,
+      ThrowingBiFunction<WorkflowContext, T, R> runner) {
     return TestDefinitions.testInvocation(
         ServiceDefinition.of(
             name,
diff --git a/sdk-api/src/test/java/dev/restate/sdk/SideEffectTest.java b/sdk-api/src/test/java/dev/restate/sdk/SideEffectTest.java
index 60556d9a..1c6596d5 100644
--- a/sdk-api/src/test/java/dev/restate/sdk/SideEffectTest.java
+++ b/sdk-api/src/test/java/dev/restate/sdk/SideEffectTest.java
@@ -117,8 +117,7 @@ protected TestInvocationBuilder failingSideEffectWithRetryPolicy(
         Serde.VOID,
         JsonSerdes.STRING,
         (ctx, unused) -> {
-          PreviewContext.run(
-              ctx,
+          ctx.run(
               retryPolicy,
               () -> {
                 throw new IllegalStateException(reason);
diff --git a/sdk-common/src/main/java/dev/restate/sdk/common/function/ThrowingBiFunction.java b/sdk-common/src/main/java/dev/restate/sdk/common/function/ThrowingBiFunction.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c00e6740
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sdk-common/src/main/java/dev/restate/sdk/common/function/ThrowingBiFunction.java
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2023 - Restate Software, Inc., Restate GmbH
+//
+// This file is part of the Restate Java SDK,
+// which is released under the MIT license.
+//
+// You can find a copy of the license in file LICENSE in the root
+// directory of this repository or package, or at
+// https://github.com/restatedev/sdk-java/blob/main/LICENSE
+package dev.restate.sdk.common.function;
+
+/** Like {@link java.util.function.BiFunction} but can throw checked exceptions. */
+@FunctionalInterface
+public interface ThrowingBiFunction<T, U, R> {
+  R apply(T var1, U var2) throws Throwable;
+}
diff --git a/sdk-common/src/main/java/dev/restate/sdk/common/function/ThrowingConsumer.java b/sdk-common/src/main/java/dev/restate/sdk/common/function/ThrowingConsumer.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..361ebc68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sdk-common/src/main/java/dev/restate/sdk/common/function/ThrowingConsumer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2023 - Restate Software, Inc., Restate GmbH
+//
+// This file is part of the Restate Java SDK,
+// which is released under the MIT license.
+//
+// You can find a copy of the license in file LICENSE in the root
+// directory of this repository or package, or at
+// https://github.com/restatedev/sdk-java/blob/main/LICENSE
+package dev.restate.sdk.common.function;
+
+import java.util.function.Consumer;
+
+/** Like {@link Consumer} but can throw checked exceptions. */
+@FunctionalInterface
+public interface ThrowingConsumer<T> {
+  void accept(T var1) throws Throwable;
+}