diff --git a/apitally/starlette.py b/apitally/starlette.py
index b7aa8bc..54057fd 100644
--- a/apitally/starlette.py
+++ b/apitally/starlette.py
@@ -59,11 +59,12 @@ async def __call__(self, scope: Scope, receive: Receive, send: Send) -> None:
         if scope["type"] == "http" and scope["method"] != "OPTIONS":
             request = Request(scope)
             response_status = 0
-            response_time = 0.0
+            response_time: Optional[float] = None
             response_headers = Headers()
             response_body = b""
             response_size = 0
             response_chunked = False
+            exception: Optional[BaseException] = None
             start_time = time.perf_counter()
 
             async def send_wrapper(message: Message) -> None:
@@ -92,17 +93,11 @@ async def send_wrapper(message: Message) -> None:
             try:
                 await self.app(scope, receive, send_wrapper)
             except BaseException as e:
-                self.add_request(
-                    request=request,
-                    response_status=500,
-                    response_time=time.perf_counter() - start_time,
-                    response_headers=response_headers,
-                    response_body=response_body,
-                    response_size=response_size,
-                    exception=e,
-                )
+                exception = e
                 raise e from None
-            else:
+            finally:
+                if response_time is None:
+                    response_time = time.perf_counter() - start_time
                 self.add_request(
                     request=request,
                     response_status=response_status,
@@ -110,6 +105,7 @@ async def send_wrapper(message: Message) -> None:
                     response_headers=response_headers,
                     response_body=response_body,
                     response_size=response_size,
+                    exception=exception,
                 )
         else:
             await self.app(scope, receive, send)  # pragma: no cover
@@ -129,6 +125,8 @@ def add_request(
             consumer = self.get_consumer(request)
             consumer_identifier = consumer.identifier if consumer else None
             self.client.consumer_registry.add_or_update_consumer(consumer)
+            if response_status == 0 and exception is not None:
+                response_status = 500
             self.client.request_counter.add_request(
                 consumer=consumer_identifier,
                 method=request.method,
diff --git a/tests/test_starlette.py b/tests/test_starlette.py
index 72e8033..34692d3 100644
--- a/tests/test_starlette.py
+++ b/tests/test_starlette.py
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@
 
 if find_spec("starlette") is None:
     pytest.skip("starlette is not available", allow_module_level=True)
+else:
+    # Need to import BackgroundTasks at package level to avoid NameError in FastAPI
+    from starlette.background import BackgroundTasks
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from starlette.applications import Starlette
@@ -64,6 +67,14 @@ def stream_response():
 
         return StreamingResponse(stream_response())
 
+    def task(request: Request):
+        def task_func_with_error():
+            raise ValueError("task")
+
+        tasks = BackgroundTasks()
+        tasks.add_task(task_func_with_error)
+        return PlainTextResponse("ok", background=tasks)
+
     routes = [
         Route("/foo/", foo),
         Route("/foo/{bar}/", foo_bar),
@@ -71,6 +82,7 @@ def stream_response():
         Route("/baz/", baz, methods=["POST"]),
         Route("/val/", val),
         Route("/stream/", stream),
+        Route("/task/", task, methods=["POST"]),
     ]
     app = Starlette(routes=routes)
     app.add_middleware(ApitallyMiddleware, client_id=CLIENT_ID, env=ENV)
@@ -117,6 +129,14 @@ def stream_response():
 
         return StreamingResponse(stream_response())
 
+    @app.post("/task/")
+    def task(background_tasks: BackgroundTasks):
+        def task_func_with_error():
+            raise ValueError("task")
+
+        background_tasks.add_task(task_func_with_error)
+        return "ok"
+
     return app
 
 
@@ -176,6 +196,14 @@ def test_middleware_requests_error(app: Starlette, mocker: MockerFixture):
     exception = mock2.call_args.kwargs["exception"]
     assert isinstance(exception, ValueError)
 
+    # Throws a ValueError in a background task, but returns 200
+    response = client.post("/task/")
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert mock1.call_count == 2
+    assert mock1.call_args is not None
+    assert mock1.call_args.kwargs["status_code"] == 200
+    mock2.assert_called_once()  # Not called again
+
 
 def test_middleware_requests_unhandled(app: Starlette, mocker: MockerFixture):
     from starlette.testclient import TestClient
@@ -216,7 +244,7 @@ def test_get_startup_data(app: Starlette, mocker: MockerFixture):
         app.middleware_stack = app.build_middleware_stack()
 
     data = _get_startup_data(app=app.middleware_stack, app_version="1.2.3", openapi_url=None)
-    assert len(data["paths"]) == 6
+    assert len(data["paths"]) == 7
     assert data["versions"]["starlette"]
     assert data["versions"]["app"] == "1.2.3"
     assert data["client"] == "python:starlette"