diff --git a/imednet/core/paginator.py b/imednet/core/paginator.py
index 00956e67..cefbd9bd 100644
--- a/imednet/core/paginator.py
+++ b/imednet/core/paginator.py
@@ -105,10 +105,9 @@ def _iter_sync(self) -> Iterator[Any]:
         # Raw list endpoints do not support pagination params
         response: httpx.Response = client.get(self.path, params=self.params)
         payload = response.json()
-        if isinstance(payload, list):
-            yield from payload
-        else:
-            yield from []
+        if not isinstance(payload, list):
+            raise TypeError(f"API response must be a list, got {type(payload).__name__}")
+        yield from payload
 
 
 class AsyncJsonListPaginator(AsyncPaginator):
@@ -119,9 +118,7 @@ async def _iter_async(self) -> AsyncIterator[Any]:
         # Raw list endpoints do not support pagination params
         response: httpx.Response = await client.get(self.path, params=self.params)
         payload = response.json()
-        if isinstance(payload, list):
-            for item in payload:
-                yield item
-        else:
-            # Fallback for empty or malformed response
-            pass
+        if not isinstance(payload, list):
+            raise TypeError(f"API response must be a list, got {type(payload).__name__}")
+        for item in payload:
+            yield item
diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
index fc1d01fe..c6447985 100644
--- a/poetry.lock
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -2759,14 +2759,14 @@ test = ["covdefaults (>=2.3)", "coverage (>=7.2.7)", "coverage-enable-subprocess
 
 [[package]]
 name = "werkzeug"
-version = "3.1.5"
+version = "3.1.6"
 description = "The comprehensive WSGI web application library."
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.9"
 groups = ["dev"]
 files = [
-    {file = "werkzeug-3.1.5-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:5111e36e91086ece91f93268bb39b4a35c1e6f1feac762c9c822ded0a4e322dc"},
-    {file = "werkzeug-3.1.5.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:6a548b0e88955dd07ccb25539d7d0cc97417ee9e179677d22c7041c8f078ce67"},
+    {file = "werkzeug-3.1.6-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:7ddf3357bb9564e407607f988f683d72038551200c704012bb9a4c523d42f131"},
+    {file = "werkzeug-3.1.6.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:210c6bede5a420a913956b4791a7f4d6843a43b6fcee4dfa08a65e93007d0d25"},
 ]
 
 [package.dependencies]
@@ -2800,4 +2800,4 @@ sqlalchemy = ["SQLAlchemy"]
 [metadata]
 lock-version = "2.1"
 python-versions = "^3.10"
-content-hash = "f566c8f13cf3eb0c80d496ed8ecf21f9cdd87e0ad0277fe67db4440f8ab6bb09"
+content-hash = "9eb342134be043a99cd62fb62e7c27ef7631d148f4038092163da233d629525e"
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 4d308f2e..8981519a 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ faker = "^24.9"
 pre-commit = "^4.2.0"
 virtualenv = "^20.36.1"
 isort = "^6.0.1"
-werkzeug = "^3.1.5"
+werkzeug = "^3.1.6"
 sphinx = "^6.2.0"
 sphinx-autodoc-typehints = "*"
 sphinx-rtd-theme = "^3.0.2"
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_json_list_paginator_robustness.py b/tests/unit/test_json_list_paginator_robustness.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..44a7653c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_json_list_paginator_robustness.py
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+from unittest.mock import Mock
+
+import pytest
+
+from imednet.core.paginator import AsyncJsonListPaginator, JsonListPaginator
+
+
+class MockClient:
+    def __init__(self, response_data):
+        self.response_data = response_data
+
+    def get(self, path, params=None):
+        response = Mock()
+        response.json.return_value = self.response_data
+        return response
+
+
+class MockAsyncClient:
+    def __init__(self, response_data):
+        self.response_data = response_data
+
+    async def get(self, path, params=None):
+        response = Mock()
+        response.json.return_value = self.response_data
+        return response
+
+
+def test_json_list_paginator_raises_on_dict():
+    """
+    Test that JsonListPaginator raises TypeError when the API returns a dictionary
+    instead of the expected list.
+    """
+    # Simulate an error response or unexpected object structure
+    client = MockClient({"error": "Something went wrong", "details": "Unexpected format"})
+    paginator = JsonListPaginator(client, "/path")
+
+    # Currently this fails (returns empty list), we want it to raise TypeError
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError, match="API response must be a list"):
+        list(paginator)
+
+
+def test_json_list_paginator_raises_on_none():
+    """Test that JsonListPaginator raises TypeError when the API returns null."""
+    client = MockClient(None)
+    paginator = JsonListPaginator(client, "/path")
+
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError, match="API response must be a list"):
+        list(paginator)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_async_json_list_paginator_raises_on_dict():
+    """
+    Test that AsyncJsonListPaginator raises TypeError when the API returns a dictionary
+    instead of the expected list.
+    """
+    client = MockAsyncClient({"error": "Async error"})
+    paginator = AsyncJsonListPaginator(client, "/path")  # type: ignore
+
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError, match="API response must be a list"):
+        [item async for item in paginator]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_async_json_list_paginator_raises_on_none():
+    """Test that AsyncJsonListPaginator raises TypeError when the API returns null."""
+    client = MockAsyncClient(None)
+    paginator = AsyncJsonListPaginator(client, "/path")  # type: ignore
+
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError, match="API response must be a list"):
+        [item async for item in paginator]