diff --git a/thousandeyes-sdk-core/README.md b/thousandeyes-sdk-core/README.md
index 2f3c285b..267e4af2 100644
--- a/thousandeyes-sdk-core/README.md
+++ b/thousandeyes-sdk-core/README.md
@@ -2,18 +2,28 @@
 
 This package provides core functionality for interacting with the ThousandEyes API and should be installed before using any of the published SDKs.
 
-Usage example for iterating paginated responses:
+`PaginatorIterator` is unbounded, so wrap it with `itertools.islice` to cap the number of items and avoid making unintended, potentially expensive API calls. 
+Pick a slice size that matches your UI or batch size so you only fetch what you plan to process:
 
 ```python
-from thousandeyes_sdk.core import PaginatorIterator
-from thousandeyes_sdk.dashboards.api.dashboards_api import DashboardsApi
+from thousandeyes_sdk.core import Configuration, ApiClient, PaginatorIterator
+from thousandeyes_sdk.dashboards import DashboardsApi
+from itertools import islice
 
-dashboards_api = DashboardsApi()
-for widget_data in PaginatorIterator(
-    dashboards_api.get_dashboard_widget_data,
-    lambda response: response.data.tests if response.data else [],
-    dashboard_id="dashboard-id",
-    widget_id="widget-id",
-):
-    print(widget_data)
+configuration = Configuration(
+    host = "https://api.thousandeyes.com/v7",
+    access_token = "an_access_token",
+)
+
+
+def get_dashboard_widget_data():
+    with ApiClient(configuration) as client:
+        dashboards_api = DashboardsApi(client)
+        for item in list(islice(PaginatorIterator(
+            dashboards_api.get_dashboard_widget_data,
+            lambda response: response.data.tests,
+            dashboard_id="a_dashboard_id",
+            widget_id="a_widget_id",
+        ), 20)):
+            print(item.test_id)
 ```
diff --git a/thousandeyes-sdk-core/src/thousandeyes_sdk/core/pagination_iterator.py b/thousandeyes-sdk-core/src/thousandeyes_sdk/core/pagination_iterator.py
index 11b90a9f..cffe6fbd 100644
--- a/thousandeyes-sdk-core/src/thousandeyes_sdk/core/pagination_iterator.py
+++ b/thousandeyes-sdk-core/src/thousandeyes_sdk/core/pagination_iterator.py
@@ -60,7 +60,8 @@ class PaginatorIterator(Generic[P, R, I]):
 
         while True:
             response = self._method(**params)
-            for item in self._items_getter(response):
+            items = self._items_getter(response)
+            for item in items if items else []:
                 yield item
 
             next_cursor = self._next_cursor_from_response(response)
@@ -71,14 +72,10 @@ class PaginatorIterator(Generic[P, R, I]):
             last_cursor = next_cursor
 
     def _next_cursor_from_response(self, response: Any) -> Optional[str]:
-        data = getattr(response, "data", response)
-        links = getattr(data, "links", None)
+        links = getattr(response, "links", None)
 
         if links is None:
-            links = getattr(data, "_links", None)
-
-        if links is None and isinstance(data, Mapping):
-            links = data.get("_links") or data.get("links")
+            links = getattr(response, "_links", None)
 
         if links is None:
             return None