diff --git a/homeassistant/components/generic/camera.py b/homeassistant/components/generic/camera.py
index 1ec7f0874e0..56b490e165a 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/generic/camera.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/generic/camera.py
@@ -125,45 +125,32 @@ class GenericCamera(Camera):
         ).result()
 
     async def async_camera_image(self):
-        """Wrap _async_camera_image with an asyncio.shield."""
-        # Shield the request because of https://github.com/encode/httpx/issues/1461
-        try:
-            self._last_url, self._last_image = await asyncio.shield(
-                self._async_camera_image()
-            )
-        except asyncio.CancelledError as err:
-            _LOGGER.warning("Timeout getting camera image from %s", self._name)
-            raise err
-        return self._last_image
-
-    async def _async_camera_image(self):
         """Return a still image response from the camera."""
         try:
             url = self._still_image_url.async_render(parse_result=False)
         except TemplateError as err:
             _LOGGER.error("Error parsing template %s: %s", self._still_image_url, err)
-            return self._last_url, self._last_image
+            return self._last_image
 
         if url == self._last_url and self._limit_refetch:
-            return self._last_url, self._last_image
-        response = None
+            return self._last_image
+
         try:
             async_client = get_async_client(self.hass, verify_ssl=self.verify_ssl)
             response = await async_client.get(
                 url, auth=self._auth, timeout=GET_IMAGE_TIMEOUT
             )
             response.raise_for_status()
-            image = response.content
+            self._last_image = response.content
         except httpx.TimeoutException:
             _LOGGER.error("Timeout getting camera image from %s", self._name)
-            return self._last_url, self._last_image
+            return self._last_image
         except (httpx.RequestError, httpx.HTTPStatusError) as err:
             _LOGGER.error("Error getting new camera image from %s: %s", self._name, err)
-            return self._last_url, self._last_image
-        finally:
-            if response:
-                await response.aclose()
-        return url, image
+            return self._last_image
+
+        self._last_url = url
+        return self._last_image
 
     @property
     def name(self):
diff --git a/tests/components/generic/test_camera.py b/tests/components/generic/test_camera.py
index deb8049da33..1a1edc4eece 100644
--- a/tests/components/generic/test_camera.py
+++ b/tests/components/generic/test_camera.py
@@ -440,7 +440,7 @@ async def test_timeout_cancelled(hass, hass_client):
     respx.get("http://example.com").respond(text="not hello world")
 
     with patch(
-        "homeassistant.components.generic.camera.GenericCamera._async_camera_image",
+        "homeassistant.components.generic.camera.GenericCamera.async_camera_image",
         side_effect=asyncio.CancelledError(),
     ):
         resp = await client.get("/api/camera_proxy/camera.config_test")