diff --git a/src/rpc/__tests__/dial.spec.ts b/src/rpc/__tests__/dial.spec.ts
index 938b5b7f1..6e0c64fa8 100644
--- a/src/rpc/__tests__/dial.spec.ts
+++ b/src/rpc/__tests__/dial.spec.ts
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ import {
 } from '../../__mocks__/webrtc';
 import { withICEServers } from '../__fixtures__/dial-webrtc-options';
 import { createMockTransport } from '../../__mocks__/transports';
-import { createMockSignalingExchange } from '../__mocks__/signaling-exchanges';
 import { ClientChannel } from '../client-channel';
+import type { Transport } from '@connectrpc/connect';
 
 vi.mock('../peer');
 vi.mock('../signaling-exchange');
@@ -52,15 +52,12 @@ const setupDialWebRTCMocks = () => {
   const peerConnection = createMockPeerConnection();
   const dataChannel = createMockDataChannel();
   const transport = createMockTransport();
-  const signalingExchange = createMockSignalingExchange(transport);
 
   vi.mocked(newPeerConnectionForClient).mockResolvedValue({
     pc: peerConnection,
     dc: dataChannel,
   });
 
-  vi.mocked(SignalingExchange).mockImplementation(() => signalingExchange);
-
   const optionalWebRTCConfigFn = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
     config: {
       additionalIceServers: [],
@@ -68,12 +65,20 @@ const setupDialWebRTCMocks = () => {
     },
   });
 
-  vi.mocked(createClient).mockReturnValue({
+  const mockClient = {
     optionalWebRTCConfig: optionalWebRTCConfigFn,
-  } as unknown as ReturnType<typeof createClient>);
+  } as unknown as ReturnType<typeof createClient>;
 
+  vi.mocked(createClient).mockReturnValue(mockClient);
   vi.mocked(createGrpcWebTransport).mockReturnValue(transport);
 
+  const signalingExchange = {
+    doExchange: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(transport),
+    terminate: vi.fn(),
+  } as unknown as SignalingExchange;
+
+  vi.mocked(SignalingExchange).mockImplementation(() => signalingExchange);
+
   return {
     peerConnection,
     dataChannel,
@@ -207,21 +212,18 @@ describe('dialWebRTC', () => {
       expect(vi.mocked(peerConnection.close)).toHaveBeenCalled();
     });
 
-    it('should close peer connection if dialDirect fails', async () => {
+    it('should propagate error if transport creation fails', async () => {
       // Arrange
-      const { peerConnection, transport } = setupDialWebRTCMocks();
-      // First call succeeds (getOptionalWebRTCConfig), second call fails (signaling)
-      vi.mocked(createGrpcWebTransport)
-        .mockReturnValueOnce(transport)
-        .mockImplementationOnce(() => {
-          throw new Error('Transport creation failed');
-        });
+      setupDialWebRTCMocks();
+      vi.mocked(createGrpcWebTransport).mockImplementation(() => {
+        throw new Error('Transport creation failed');
+      });
 
       // Act & Assert
       await expect(dialWebRTC(TEST_URL, TEST_HOST)).rejects.toThrow(
         'Transport creation failed'
       );
-      expect(vi.mocked(peerConnection.close)).toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(newPeerConnectionForClient).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     });
 
     it('should rethrow errors after cleanup', async () => {
@@ -327,6 +329,103 @@ describe('validateDialOptions', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('resource management', () => {
+  it('should reuse a single transport for config fetching and signaling', async () => {
+    // Arrange
+    setupDialWebRTCMocks();
+
+    // Act
+    await dialWebRTC(TEST_URL, TEST_HOST);
+
+    // Assert
+    expect(createGrpcWebTransport).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(createGrpcWebTransport).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      baseUrl: TEST_URL,
+      credentials: 'same-origin',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should reuse a single signaling client for config fetching and signaling', async () => {
+    // Arrange
+    setupDialWebRTCMocks();
+
+    // Act
+    await dialWebRTC(TEST_URL, TEST_HOST);
+
+    // Assert
+    expect(createClient).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(createClient).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.anything(),
+      expect.anything()
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should not leak transports on successful connection', async () => {
+    // Arrange
+    const { transport } = setupDialWebRTCMocks();
+    const transportCount = { created: 0 };
+
+    vi.mocked(createGrpcWebTransport).mockImplementation(() => {
+      transportCount.created += 1;
+      return transport;
+    });
+
+    // Act
+    await dialWebRTC(TEST_URL, TEST_HOST);
+
+    // Assert
+    expect(transportCount.created).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  it('should not leak transports on connection failure', async () => {
+    // Arrange
+    const { transport, signalingExchange } = setupDialWebRTCMocks();
+    const transportCount = { created: 0 };
+
+    vi.mocked(createGrpcWebTransport).mockImplementation(() => {
+      transportCount.created += 1;
+      return transport;
+    });
+
+    const error = new Error('Connection failed');
+    vi.mocked(signalingExchange.doExchange).mockRejectedValueOnce(error);
+
+    // Act
+    await dialWebRTC(TEST_URL, TEST_HOST).catch(() => {
+      // Ignore error for this test
+    });
+
+    // Assert
+    expect(transportCount.created).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  it('should use the same transport reference for both config and signaling', async () => {
+    // Arrange
+    setupDialWebRTCMocks();
+    const capturedTransports: Transport[] = [];
+
+    vi.mocked(createClient).mockImplementation(
+      (_service, capturedTransport) => {
+        capturedTransports.push(capturedTransport);
+        return {
+          optionalWebRTCConfig: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+            config: {
+              additionalIceServers: [],
+              disableTrickle: false,
+            },
+          }),
+        } as unknown as ReturnType<typeof createClient>;
+      }
+    );
+
+    // Act
+    await dialWebRTC(TEST_URL, TEST_HOST);
+
+    // Assert
+    expect(capturedTransports.length).toBe(1);
+  });
+});
+
 describe('dialDirect', () => {
   afterEach(() => {
     vi.restoreAllMocks();
diff --git a/src/rpc/dial.ts b/src/rpc/dial.ts
index d1f0bd2be..fb7318de2 100644
--- a/src/rpc/dial.ts
+++ b/src/rpc/dial.ts
@@ -309,20 +309,24 @@ export interface WebRTCConnection {
   dataChannel: RTCDataChannel;
 }
 
-const getOptionalWebRTCConfig = async (
+const getSignalingClient = async (
   signalingAddress: string,
-  callOpts: CallOptions,
-  dialOpts?: DialOptions,
+  signalingExchangeOpts: DialOptions | undefined,
   transportCredentialsInclude = false
-): Promise<WebRTCConfig> => {
-  const optsCopy = { ...dialOpts } as DialOptions;
-  const directTransport = await dialDirect(
+) => {
+  const transport = await dialDirect(
     signalingAddress,
-    optsCopy,
+    signalingExchangeOpts,
     transportCredentialsInclude
   );
 
-  const signalingClient = createClient(SignalingService, directTransport);
+  return createClient(SignalingService, transport);
+};
+
+const getOptionalWebRTCConfig = async (
+  callOpts: CallOptions,
+  signalingClient: ReturnType<typeof createClient<typeof SignalingService>>
+): Promise<WebRTCConfig> => {
   try {
     const resp = await signalingClient.optionalWebRTCConfig({}, callOpts);
     return resp.config ?? new WebRTCConfig();
@@ -363,18 +367,25 @@ export const dialWebRTC = async (
   };
 
   /**
-   * First complete our WebRTC options, gathering any extra information like
-   * TURN servers from a cloud server.
+   * First, derive options specifically for signaling against our target. Then
+   * complete our WebRTC options, gathering any extra information like TURN
+   * servers from a cloud server. This also creates the transport and signaling
+   * client that we'll reuse to avoid resource leaks.
    */
-  const webrtcOpts = await processWebRTCOpts(
+  const exchangeOpts = processSignalingExchangeOpts(
     usableSignalingAddress,
-    callOpts,
-    dialOpts,
-    transportCredentialsInclude
+    dialOpts
   );
-  // then derive options specifically for signaling against our target.
-  const exchangeOpts = processSignalingExchangeOpts(
+
+  const signalingClient = await getSignalingClient(
     usableSignalingAddress,
+    exchangeOpts,
+    transportCredentialsInclude
+  );
+
+  const webrtcOpts = await processWebRTCOpts(
+    signalingClient,
+    callOpts,
     dialOpts
   );
 
@@ -385,21 +396,6 @@ export const dialWebRTC = async (
   );
   let successful = false;
 
-  let directTransport: Transport;
-  try {
-    directTransport = await dialDirect(
-      usableSignalingAddress,
-      exchangeOpts,
-      transportCredentialsInclude
-    );
-  } catch (error) {
-    pc.close();
-    dc.close();
-    throw error;
-  }
-
-  const signalingClient = createClient(SignalingService, directTransport);
-
   const exchange = new SignalingExchange(
     signalingClient,
     callOpts,
@@ -453,18 +449,11 @@ export const dialWebRTC = async (
 };
 
 const processWebRTCOpts = async (
-  signalingAddress: string,
+  signalingClient: ReturnType<typeof createClient<typeof SignalingService>>,
   callOpts: CallOptions,
-  dialOpts?: DialOptions,
-  transportCredentialsInclude = false
+  dialOpts: DialOptions | undefined
 ): Promise<DialWebRTCOptions> => {
-  // Get TURN servers, if any.
-  const config = await getOptionalWebRTCConfig(
-    signalingAddress,
-    callOpts,
-    dialOpts,
-    transportCredentialsInclude
-  );
+  const config = await getOptionalWebRTCConfig(callOpts, signalingClient);
   const additionalIceServers: RTCIceServer[] = config.additionalIceServers.map(
     (ice) => {
       const iceUrls = [];