diff --git a/reactor-pool/src/main/java/reactor/pool/SimpleDequePool.java b/reactor-pool/src/main/java/reactor/pool/SimpleDequePool.java
index 7a80131f..ae3ab338 100644
--- a/reactor-pool/src/main/java/reactor/pool/SimpleDequePool.java
+++ b/reactor-pool/src/main/java/reactor/pool/SimpleDequePool.java
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ else if (sig.isOnError()) {
 							final int mergeConcurrency = Math.min(poolConfig.allocationStrategy().warmupParallelism(), toWarmup + 1);
 							Flux.range(1, toWarmup)
 									.map(i -> warmupMono(i, toWarmup, startWarmupIteration, allocator).doOnSuccess(__ -> drain()))
-									.startWith(primary.doOnSuccess(__ -> drain()).then())
+									.startWith(primary.doOnSuccess(__ -> drain()).onErrorComplete().then())
 									.flatMap(Function.identity(), mergeConcurrency, 1) // since we dont store anything the inner buffer can be simplified
 									.onErrorResume(e -> Mono.empty())
 									.subscribe(aVoid -> { }, alreadyPropagatedOrLogged -> drain(), this::drain);
diff --git a/reactor-pool/src/test/java/reactor/pool/CommonPoolTest.java b/reactor-pool/src/test/java/reactor/pool/CommonPoolTest.java
index 43824fdc..e066337b 100644
--- a/reactor-pool/src/test/java/reactor/pool/CommonPoolTest.java
+++ b/reactor-pool/src/test/java/reactor/pool/CommonPoolTest.java
@@ -2634,4 +2634,50 @@ void poolExposesConfig(PoolStyle style) {
 		assertThat(config.allocationStrategy().estimatePermitCount()).as("maxSize").isEqualTo(123);
 		assertThat(config.clock()).as("clock").isSameAs(clock);
 	}
+
+	@ParameterizedTestWithName
+	@EnumSource
+	void testIssue_174(PoolStyle style) {
+		final AtomicBoolean canAllocateResource = new AtomicBoolean(true);
+		final Mono<String> allocator = Mono.defer(() ->
+			canAllocateResource.get() ?
+				Mono.just("value") :
+				Mono.error(new IllegalStateException("Can't allocate"))
+		);
+
+		final PoolBuilder<String, PoolConfig<String>> configBuilder = PoolBuilder
+			.from(allocator)
+			.maxPendingAcquireUnbounded()
+			.sizeBetween(10, 10); // Spring Boot R2DBC connections pool default
+		final InstrumentedPool<String> pool = style.apply(configBuilder);
+
+		// New empty pool. No resources allocated yet, but has min-size (10) permits
+		assertThat(pool.config().allocationStrategy().estimatePermitCount()).isEqualTo(10);
+		assertThat(pool.metrics().idleSize()).isEqualTo(0);
+
+		// Try to acquire one resource. This should trigger pool "warmup" to min-size of resources
+		StepVerifier.create(pool.acquire().flatMap(PooledRef::release)).verifyComplete();
+		assertThat(pool.config().allocationStrategy().estimatePermitCount()).isEqualTo(0);
+		assertThat(pool.metrics().idleSize()).isEqualTo(10);
+
+		// Now allocator will return errors (simulating inaccessible DB server for R2DBC connections pool)
+		canAllocateResource.set(false);
+
+		// We have 10 allocated resources in the pool, but they are not valid anymore, so invalidate them
+		StepVerifier.create(Flux.range(0, 10).concatMap(ignore -> pool.acquire().flatMap(PooledRef::invalidate)))
+			.verifyComplete();
+		assertThat(pool.metrics().idleSize()).isEqualTo(0);
+		assertThat(pool.config().allocationStrategy().estimatePermitCount()).isEqualTo(10);
+
+		// Now we have empty pool, so it should be warmed up again but allocator still not working
+		StepVerifier.create(pool.acquire()).verifyError();
+		assertThat(pool.metrics().idleSize()).isEqualTo(0);
+		assertThat(pool.config().allocationStrategy().estimatePermitCount()).isEqualTo(10);
+
+		// Return allocator to "working" state and check what pool warms up correctly
+		canAllocateResource.set(true);
+		StepVerifier.create(pool.acquire().flatMap(PooledRef::release)).verifyComplete();
+		assertThat(pool.config().allocationStrategy().estimatePermitCount()).isEqualTo(0);
+		assertThat(pool.metrics().idleSize()).isEqualTo(10);
+	}
 }