diff --git a/OpenFeature.md b/OpenFeature.md
index cc7aee3..84512f0 100644
--- a/OpenFeature.md
+++ b/OpenFeature.md
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ from devcycle_python_sdk import DevCycleLocalClient, DevCycleLocalOptions
 devcycle_client = DevCycleLocalClient("DEVCYCLE_SERVER_SDK_KEY", DevCycleLocalOptions())
 
 # Set the initialzed DevCycle client as the provider for OpenFeature
-api.set_provider(devcycle_client.get_openfeature_provider())
+api.set_provider_and_wait(devcycle_client.get_openfeature_provider())
 
 # Get the OpenFeature client
 open_feature_client = api.get_client()
@@ -37,6 +37,25 @@ api.set_evaluation_context(EvaluationContext(targeting_key="test-1234"))
 bool_flag = open_feature_client.get_boolean_value("bool-flag", False)
 ```
 
+#### Provider Initialization
+
+Use `api.set_provider_and_wait()` rather than `api.set_provider()`. The DevCycle provider waits for the
+underlying DevCycle client to finish initializing and raises a `GeneralError` if it does not become ready
+in time. `set_provider_and_wait()` blocks until initialization completes and surfaces that error to the
+caller, so a failed startup is visible immediately.
+
+`api.set_provider()` returns before the provider is ready. Initialization failures are reported only as a
+`PROVIDER_ERROR` event on a background thread, and until the provider is ready every evaluation returns
+your default value with the `PROVIDER_NOT_READY` error code. If you use `set_provider()`, register an error
+handler so those failures are not silently discarded:
+
+```python
+from openfeature.event import ProviderEvent
+
+api.add_handler(ProviderEvent.PROVIDER_ERROR, lambda details: logger.error(details.message))
+api.set_provider(devcycle_client.get_openfeature_provider())
+```
+
 #### Required Targeting Key
 
 For DevCycle SDK to work we require either a `targeting_key` or `user_id` attribute to be set on the OpenFeature context. 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c537f3f..3b3ac47 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -48,9 +48,11 @@ This SDK provides an alpha implementation of the [OpenFeature](https://openfeatu
 from openfeature import api
 
 devcycle_client = DevCycleLocalClient('DEVCYCLE_SERVER_SDK_KEY', options)
-api.set_provider(devcycle_client.get_openfeature_provider())
+api.set_provider_and_wait(devcycle_client.get_openfeature_provider())
 ```
 
+Use `set_provider_and_wait()` so that initialization failures are raised to the caller. `set_provider()` returns before the provider is ready, which means a failed initialization is only reported as a background `PROVIDER_ERROR` event while evaluations return their default values.
+
 More details are in the [DevCycle Python SDK OpenFeature Provider](OpenFeature.md) guide.
 
 > :warning: **OpenFeature support is in an early release and may have some rough edges**. Please report any issues to us and we'll be happy to help!
diff --git a/example/openfeature_example.py b/example/openfeature_example.py
index 0cc2b2f..d8a6c3d 100644
--- a/example/openfeature_example.py
+++ b/example/openfeature_example.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 from openfeature import api
 from openfeature.evaluation_context import EvaluationContext
+from openfeature.exception import GeneralError
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -48,7 +49,14 @@ def main():
     logger.info("DevCycle initialized successfully!\n")
 
     # set the provider for OpenFeature
-    api.set_provider(devcycle_client.get_openfeature_provider())
+    # set_provider_and_wait blocks until the provider is ready and raises if it fails to
+    # initialize. set_provider would return immediately and evaluations would silently
+    # fall back to their default values until the provider became ready.
+    try:
+        api.set_provider_and_wait(devcycle_client.get_openfeature_provider())
+    except GeneralError as e:
+        logger.error(f"DevCycle OpenFeature provider failed to initialize: {e}")
+        exit(1)
 
     # get the OpenFeature client
     open_feature_client = api.get_client()
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 3642744..196befa 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@ urllib3 >= 1.15.1
 requests >= 2.33.0
 wasmtime ~= 30.0.0
 protobuf >= 4.23.3
-openfeature-sdk ~= 0.8
+openfeature-sdk ~= 0.10.0
 launchdarkly-eventsource >= 1.2.1