diff --git a/src/utils/handleRequest.ts b/src/utils/handleRequest.ts
index 84316e0e..546f62ab 100644
--- a/src/utils/handleRequest.ts
+++ b/src/utils/handleRequest.ts
@@ -98,13 +98,17 @@ export async function handleRequest(
    * @note `signal` is not always defined in React Native.
    */
   if (options.request.signal) {
-    options.request.signal.addEventListener(
-      'abort',
-      () => {
-        requestAbortPromise.reject(options.request.signal.reason)
-      },
-      { once: true }
-    )
+    if (options.request.signal.aborted) {
+      requestAbortPromise.reject(options.request.signal.reason)
+    } else {
+      options.request.signal.addEventListener(
+        'abort',
+        () => {
+          requestAbortPromise.reject(options.request.signal.reason)
+        },
+        { once: true }
+      )
+    }
   }
 
   const result = await until(async () => {
diff --git a/test/modules/fetch/compliance/abort-conrtoller.test.ts b/test/modules/fetch/compliance/abort-conrtoller.test.ts
index ebf9b87d..54fa0c21 100644
--- a/test/modules/fetch/compliance/abort-conrtoller.test.ts
+++ b/test/modules/fetch/compliance/abort-conrtoller.test.ts
@@ -124,3 +124,23 @@ it('forwards custom abort reason to the request if pending', async () => {
   expect(abortError.name).toBe('Error')
   expect(abortError.message).toEqual('Custom abort reason')
 })
+
+it('respects requests aborted before they are dispatched', async () => {
+  interceptor.on('request', ({ controller }) => {
+    controller.respondWith(new Response('hello world'))
+  })
+
+  const controller = new AbortController()
+  const request = new Request(httpServer.http.url('/'), {
+    signal: controller.signal,
+  })
+  controller.abort()
+
+  const abortError = await fetch(request).then<Error>(
+    () => expect.fail('must not return any response'),
+    (error) => error
+  )
+
+  expect(abortError.name).toBe('AbortError')
+  expect(abortError.message).toBe('This operation was aborted')
+})