diff --git a/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/reranking/operation/RerankingProvider.java b/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/reranking/operation/RerankingProvider.java
index 9a9f22ffff..ca8ab183bc 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/reranking/operation/RerankingProvider.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/reranking/operation/RerankingProvider.java
@@ -79,16 +79,40 @@ public ModelUsage createEmptyModelUsage(RerankingCredentials rerankingCredential
   public Uni<RerankingResponse> rerank(
       String query, List<String> passages, RerankingCredentials rerankingCredentials) {
 
-    // TODO: what to do if passages is empty?
     List<List<String>> passageBatches = createPassageBatches(passages);
-    List<Uni<BatchedRerankingResponse>> batchRerankings = new ArrayList<>();
-
-    for (int batchId = 0; batchId < passageBatches.size(); batchId++) {
-      batchRerankings.add(
-          rerank(batchId, query, passageBatches.get(batchId), rerankingCredentials));
+    if (passageBatches.isEmpty()) {
+      return Uni.createFrom().item(aggregateRanks(List.of()));
     }
 
-    return Uni.join().all(batchRerankings).andFailFast().map(this::aggregateRanks);
+    // Complete the first batch before starting the remaining batches. This primes upstream
+    // authorization caches without sacrificing concurrency for the rest of the request.
+    return rerank(0, query, passageBatches.getFirst(), rerankingCredentials)
+        .onItem()
+        .transformToUni(
+            firstBatchResponse -> {
+              if (passageBatches.size() == 1) {
+                return Uni.createFrom().item(List.of(firstBatchResponse));
+              }
+
+              List<Uni<BatchedRerankingResponse>> remainingBatchRerankings = new ArrayList<>();
+              for (int batchId = 1; batchId < passageBatches.size(); batchId++) {
+                remainingBatchRerankings.add(
+                    rerank(batchId, query, passageBatches.get(batchId), rerankingCredentials));
+              }
+
+              return Uni.join()
+                  .all(remainingBatchRerankings)
+                  .andFailFast()
+                  .map(
+                      remainingBatchResponses -> {
+                        List<BatchedRerankingResponse> batchResponses =
+                            new ArrayList<>(passageBatches.size());
+                        batchResponses.add(firstBatchResponse);
+                        batchResponses.addAll(remainingBatchResponses);
+                        return batchResponses;
+                      });
+            })
+        .map(this::aggregateRanks);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/reranking/operation/RerankingProviderTest.java b/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/reranking/operation/RerankingProviderTest.java
index 3c9add3bbf..b6335e0a0b 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/reranking/operation/RerankingProviderTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/reranking/operation/RerankingProviderTest.java
@@ -4,11 +4,16 @@
 
 import io.quarkus.test.junit.QuarkusTest;
 import io.quarkus.test.junit.TestProfile;
+import io.smallrye.mutiny.Uni;
 import io.smallrye.mutiny.helpers.test.UniAssertSubscriber;
 import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.TestConstants;
 import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.api.request.RerankingCredentials;
 import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.testresource.NoGlobalResourcesTestProfile;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.CopyOnWriteArrayList;
 import java.util.stream.IntStream;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
@@ -99,4 +104,141 @@ void microBatchingTest() {
     IntStream.range(0, 15)
         .forEach(i -> assertThat(finalResult.ranks().get(i).index()).isEqualTo(i));
   }
+
+  @Test
+  void primesFirstBatchBeforeStartingRemainingBatches() {
+    ControlledRerankingProvider provider = new ControlledRerankingProvider();
+
+    UniAssertSubscriber<RerankingProvider.RerankingResponse> subscriber =
+        provider
+            .rerank("query", List.of("first", "second", "third"), RERANK_CREDENTIALS)
+            .subscribe()
+            .withSubscriber(UniAssertSubscriber.create());
+
+    assertThat(provider.invokedBatchIds()).containsExactly(0);
+    assertThat(provider.subscribedBatchIds()).containsExactly(0);
+
+    provider.completeBatch(0);
+
+    assertThat(provider.invokedBatchIds()).containsExactly(0, 1, 2);
+    assertThat(provider.subscribedBatchIds()).containsExactly(0, 1, 2);
+    assertThat(subscriber.getItem()).isNull();
+
+    // Completing one tail batch must not complete the result: tail batches stay concurrent.
+    provider.completeBatch(2);
+    assertThat(subscriber.getItem()).isNull();
+    provider.completeBatch(1);
+
+    RerankingProvider.RerankingResponse result = subscriber.awaitItem().getItem();
+    assertThat(result.ranks()).extracting(RerankingProvider.Rank::index).containsExactly(0, 1, 2);
+    assertThat(result.modelUsage().batchCount()).isEqualTo(3);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void doesNotStartRemainingBatchesWhenFirstBatchFails() {
+    ControlledRerankingProvider provider = new ControlledRerankingProvider();
+    RuntimeException expected = new RuntimeException("first batch failed");
+
+    UniAssertSubscriber<RerankingProvider.RerankingResponse> subscriber =
+        provider
+            .rerank("query", List.of("first", "second", "third"), RERANK_CREDENTIALS)
+            .subscribe()
+            .withSubscriber(UniAssertSubscriber.create());
+
+    provider.failBatch(0, expected);
+
+    assertThat(subscriber.awaitFailure().getFailure()).isSameAs(expected);
+    assertThat(provider.invokedBatchIds()).containsExactly(0);
+    assertThat(provider.subscribedBatchIds()).containsExactly(0);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void handlesSingleBatchWithoutStartingTailBatches() {
+    ControlledRerankingProvider provider = new ControlledRerankingProvider();
+
+    UniAssertSubscriber<RerankingProvider.RerankingResponse> subscriber =
+        provider
+            .rerank("query", List.of("only"), RERANK_CREDENTIALS)
+            .subscribe()
+            .withSubscriber(UniAssertSubscriber.create());
+
+    assertThat(provider.invokedBatchIds()).containsExactly(0);
+    assertThat(provider.subscribedBatchIds()).containsExactly(0);
+
+    provider.completeBatch(0);
+
+    RerankingProvider.RerankingResponse result = subscriber.awaitItem().getItem();
+    assertThat(result.ranks()).extracting(RerankingProvider.Rank::index).containsExactly(0);
+    assertThat(result.modelUsage().batchCount()).isEqualTo(1);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void preservesEmptyPassagesResult() {
+    ControlledRerankingProvider provider = new ControlledRerankingProvider();
+
+    RerankingProvider.RerankingResponse result =
+        provider
+            .rerank("query", List.of(), RERANK_CREDENTIALS)
+            .subscribe()
+            .withSubscriber(UniAssertSubscriber.create())
+            .awaitItem()
+            .getItem();
+
+    assertThat(provider.invokedBatchIds()).isEmpty();
+    assertThat(provider.subscribedBatchIds()).isEmpty();
+    assertThat(result.ranks()).isEmpty();
+    assertThat(result.modelUsage()).isNull();
+  }
+
+  private static final class ControlledRerankingProvider extends TestRerankingProvider {
+
+    private final Map<Integer, CompletableFuture<BatchedRerankingResponse>> batchResults =
+        new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
+    private final List<Integer> invokedBatchIds = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<>();
+    private final List<Integer> subscribedBatchIds = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<>();
+
+    private ControlledRerankingProvider() {
+      super(1);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Uni<BatchedRerankingResponse> rerank(
+        int batchId,
+        String query,
+        List<String> passages,
+        RerankingCredentials rerankingCredentials) {
+      invokedBatchIds.add(batchId);
+      CompletableFuture<BatchedRerankingResponse> batchResult = new CompletableFuture<>();
+      batchResults.put(batchId, batchResult);
+
+      return Uni.createFrom()
+          .deferred(
+              () -> {
+                subscribedBatchIds.add(batchId);
+                return Uni.createFrom().completionStage(batchResult);
+              });
+    }
+
+    private void completeBatch(int batchId) {
+      batchResults
+          .get(batchId)
+          .complete(
+              new BatchedRerankingResponse(
+                  batchId,
+                  List.of(new Rank(0, batchId)),
+                  createEmptyModelUsage(RERANK_CREDENTIALS)));
+    }
+
+    private void failBatch(int batchId, Throwable failure) {
+      batchResults.get(batchId).completeExceptionally(failure);
+    }
+
+    private List<Integer> invokedBatchIds() {
+      return List.copyOf(invokedBatchIds);
+    }
+
+    private List<Integer> subscribedBatchIds() {
+      return List.copyOf(subscribedBatchIds);
+    }
+  }
 }