diff --git a/lib/internal/streams/readable.js b/lib/internal/streams/readable.js
index 57aa71817e4fba..983a6f6e65ebe4 100644
--- a/lib/internal/streams/readable.js
+++ b/lib/internal/streams/readable.js
@@ -1380,6 +1380,7 @@ function streamToAsyncIterator(stream, options) {
 
 async function* createAsyncIterator(stream, options) {
   let callback = nop;
+  let isListening = false;
 
   function next(resolve) {
     if (this === stream) {
@@ -1390,8 +1391,6 @@ async function* createAsyncIterator(stream, options) {
     }
   }
 
-  stream.on('readable', next);
-
   let error;
   const cleanup = eos(stream, { writable: false }, (err) => {
     error = err ? aggregateTwoErrors(error, err) : null;
@@ -1399,6 +1398,11 @@ async function* createAsyncIterator(stream, options) {
     callback = nop;
   });
 
+  function setupReadable() {
+    isListening = true;
+    stream.on('readable', next);
+  }
+
   try {
     while (true) {
       const chunk = stream.destroyed ? null : stream.read();
@@ -1409,6 +1413,9 @@ async function* createAsyncIterator(stream, options) {
       } else if (error === null) {
         return;
       } else {
+        if (!isListening) {
+          setupReadable();
+        }
         await new Promise(next);
       }
     }