diff --git a/homeassistant/components/ollama/config_flow.py b/homeassistant/components/ollama/config_flow.py
index 4c59a38bfe0..e192aeb1fca 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/ollama/config_flow.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/ollama/config_flow.py
@@ -151,7 +151,6 @@ class OllamaConfigFlow(ConfigFlow, domain=DOMAIN):
             self.download_task = self.hass.async_create_background_task(
                 self.client.pull(self.model),
                 f"Downloading {self.model}",
-                eager_start=False,
             )
 
         if self.download_task.done():
diff --git a/tests/components/ollama/test_config_flow.py b/tests/components/ollama/test_config_flow.py
index c58f14a8c87..b1b74197139 100644
--- a/tests/components/ollama/test_config_flow.py
+++ b/tests/components/ollama/test_config_flow.py
@@ -205,6 +205,10 @@ async def test_download_error(hass: HomeAssistant) -> None:
         ollama.DOMAIN, context={"source": config_entries.SOURCE_USER}
     )
 
+    async def _delayed_runtime_error(*args, **kwargs):
+        await asyncio.sleep(0)
+        raise RuntimeError
+
     with (
         patch(
             "homeassistant.components.ollama.config_flow.ollama.AsyncClient.list",
@@ -212,7 +216,7 @@ async def test_download_error(hass: HomeAssistant) -> None:
         ),
         patch(
             "homeassistant.components.ollama.config_flow.ollama.AsyncClient.pull",
-            side_effect=RuntimeError(),
+            _delayed_runtime_error,
         ),
     ):
         result2 = await hass.config_entries.flow.async_configure(