diff --git a/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/AsyncCachingExec.java b/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/AsyncCachingExec.java
index 01141b32c6..42ade554c9 100644
--- a/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/AsyncCachingExec.java
+++ b/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/AsyncCachingExec.java
@@ -1270,6 +1270,7 @@ private void handleCacheMiss(
             context.setCacheResponseStatus(CacheResponseStatus.CACHE_MODULE_RESPONSE);
             final SimpleHttpResponse cacheResponse = generateGatewayTimeout();
             triggerResponse(cacheResponse, scope, asyncExecCallback);
+            return;
         }
 
         if (partialMatch != null && partialMatch.entry.hasVariants() && request.getBody() == null) {
diff --git a/httpclient5-cache/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/TestAsyncCachingExecChain.java b/httpclient5-cache/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/TestAsyncCachingExecChain.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..61c4146c48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/httpclient5-cache/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/TestAsyncCachingExecChain.java
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+/*
+ * ====================================================================
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ * ====================================================================
+ *
+ * This software consists of voluntary contributions made by many
+ * individuals on behalf of the Apache Software Foundation.  For more
+ * information on the Apache Software Foundation, please see
+ * <http://www.apache.org/>.
+ *
+ */
+package org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.cache;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
+
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.HttpRoute;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.async.AsyncExecCallback;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.async.AsyncExecChain;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.async.AsyncExecRuntime;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.cache.CacheResponseStatus;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.cache.HttpCacheContext;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.concurrent.CancellableDependency;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpHeaders;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpHost;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpRequest;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpResponse;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpStatus;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.http.Method;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.http.message.BasicHttpRequest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.mockito.ArgumentCaptor;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.Mockito;
+import org.mockito.MockitoAnnotations;
+
+class TestAsyncCachingExecChain {
+
+    @Mock
+    private AsyncExecChain chain;
+    @Mock
+    private AsyncExecCallback callback;
+    @Mock
+    private AsyncExecRuntime execRuntime;
+    @Mock
+    private CancellableDependency dependency;
+
+    private HttpCacheContext context;
+    private AsyncCachingExec impl;
+
+    @BeforeEach
+    void setUp() {
+        MockitoAnnotations.openMocks(this);
+        final HttpAsyncCache cache = new BasicHttpAsyncCache(
+                HeapResourceFactory.INSTANCE, new SimpleHttpAsyncCacheStorage());
+        impl = new AsyncCachingExec(cache, null, CacheConfig.DEFAULT);
+        context = HttpCacheContext.create();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testOnlyIfCachedAndNoCacheEntryBackendNotCalled() throws Exception {
+        final HttpHost target = new HttpHost("foo.example.com", 80);
+        final HttpRequest request = new BasicHttpRequest(Method.GET, target, "/");
+        request.addHeader(HttpHeaders.CACHE_CONTROL, "only-if-cached");
+        final AsyncExecChain.Scope scope = new AsyncExecChain.Scope(
+                "test",
+                new HttpRoute(target),
+                request,
+                dependency,
+                context,
+                execRuntime,
+                null,
+                new AtomicInteger());
+
+        impl.execute(request, null, scope, chain, callback);
+
+        Mockito.verify(chain, Mockito.never()).proceed(
+                Mockito.any(), Mockito.any(), Mockito.any(), Mockito.any());
+        final ArgumentCaptor<HttpResponse> responseCaptor = ArgumentCaptor.forClass(HttpResponse.class);
+        Mockito.verify(callback).handleResponse(responseCaptor.capture(), Mockito.any());
+        Assertions.assertEquals(HttpStatus.SC_GATEWAY_TIMEOUT, responseCaptor.getValue().getCode());
+        Mockito.verify(callback).completed();
+        Assertions.assertEquals(CacheResponseStatus.CACHE_MODULE_RESPONSE, context.getCacheResponseStatus());
+    }
+
+}