diff --git a/imednet/core/paginator.py b/imednet/core/paginator.py
index cefbd9bd..76914d03 100644
--- a/imednet/core/paginator.py
+++ b/imednet/core/paginator.py
@@ -47,7 +47,12 @@ def _extract_items(self, payload: Dict[str, Any]) -> list[Any]:
         return items
 
     def _next_page(self, payload: Dict[str, Any], page: int) -> Optional[int]:
-        pagination = payload.get("pagination") or {}
+        pagination = payload.get("pagination")
+        if pagination is not None and not isinstance(pagination, dict):
+            raise TypeError(
+                f"Response field 'pagination' must be a dictionary, got {type(pagination).__name__}"
+            )
+        pagination = pagination or {}
         total_pages = pagination.get("totalPages")
         if total_pages is None or page >= total_pages - 1:
             return None
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_paginator_robustness.py b/tests/unit/test_paginator_robustness.py
index cea02859..40922934 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_paginator_robustness.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_paginator_robustness.py
@@ -50,3 +50,17 @@ def test_paginator_raises_type_error_on_invalid_data_key():
 
     with pytest.raises(TypeError, match="Expected a list of items"):
         list(paginator)
+
+
+def test_paginator_raises_type_error_on_invalid_pagination_field():
+    """
+    Test that the Paginator raises a helpful TypeError when the pagination key in the response
+    is not a dictionary.
+    """
+    # unexpected: 'pagination' is a string, not a dict
+    client = MockClient({"data": [{"id": 1}], "pagination": "invalid_structure"})
+    paginator = Paginator(client, "/path")
+
+    # Before the fix, this raises AttributeError because it tries to call .get() on a string
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError, match="Response field 'pagination' must be a dictionary"):
+        list(paginator)