diff --git a/packages/react-server-dom-webpack/src/__tests__/ReactFlightDOMReply-test.js b/packages/react-server-dom-webpack/src/__tests__/ReactFlightDOMReply-test.js
index 6e113556206f4..2181eb5fe700c 100644
--- a/packages/react-server-dom-webpack/src/__tests__/ReactFlightDOMReply-test.js
+++ b/packages/react-server-dom-webpack/src/__tests__/ReactFlightDOMReply-test.js
@@ -438,6 +438,50 @@ describe('ReactFlightDOMReply', () => {
     expect(response.obj).toBe(obj);
   });
 
+  it('can return an opaque object through an async function', async () => {
+    function fn() {
+      return 'this is a client function';
+    }
+
+    const args = [fn];
+
+    const temporaryReferences =
+      ReactServerDOMClient.createTemporaryReferenceSet();
+    const body = await ReactServerDOMClient.encodeReply(args, {
+      temporaryReferences,
+    });
+
+    const temporaryReferencesServer =
+      ReactServerDOMServer.createTemporaryReferenceSet();
+    const serverPayload = await ReactServerDOMServer.decodeReply(
+      body,
+      webpackServerMap,
+      {temporaryReferences: temporaryReferencesServer},
+    );
+
+    async function action(arg) {
+      return arg;
+    }
+
+    const stream = await serverAct(() =>
+      ReactServerDOMServer.renderToReadableStream(
+        {
+          result: action.apply(null, serverPayload),
+        },
+        null,
+        {temporaryReferences: temporaryReferencesServer},
+      ),
+    );
+    const response = await ReactServerDOMClient.createFromReadableStream(
+      stream,
+      {
+        temporaryReferences,
+      },
+    );
+
+    expect(await response.result).toBe(fn);
+  });
+
   it('should supports streaming ReadableStream with objects', async () => {
     let controller1;
     let controller2;
diff --git a/packages/react-server/src/ReactFlightServerTemporaryReferences.js b/packages/react-server/src/ReactFlightServerTemporaryReferences.js
index e368b2e800795..1ea89c81980c1 100644
--- a/packages/react-server/src/ReactFlightServerTemporaryReferences.js
+++ b/packages/react-server/src/ReactFlightServerTemporaryReferences.js
@@ -70,6 +70,13 @@ const proxyHandlers = {
             `Instead, you can export a Client Component wrapper ` +
             `that itself renders a Client Context Provider.`,
         );
+      case 'then':
+        // Allow returning a temporary reference from an async function
+        // Unlike regular Client References, a Promise would never have been serialized as
+        // an opaque Temporary Reference, but instead would have been serialized as a
+        // Promise on the server and so doesn't hit this path. So we can assume this wasn't
+        // a Promise on the client.
+        return undefined;
     }
     throw new Error(
       // eslint-disable-next-line react-internal/safe-string-coercion