diff --git a/a_sync/task.py b/a_sync/task.py
index 5e6b37f8..ca177fbb 100644
--- a/a_sync/task.py
+++ b/a_sync/task.py
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ async def _wrapped_set_next(
             self._wrapped_func = _wrapped_set_next
             init_loader_queue: Queue[Tuple[K, "asyncio.Future[V]"]] = Queue()
             self.__init_loader_coro = exhaust_iterator(
-                self._tasks_for_iterables(*iterables), queue=init_loader_queue
+                self._start_tasks_for_iterables(*iterables), queue=init_loader_queue
             )
             with contextlib.suppress(_NoRunningLoop):
                 # its okay if we get this exception, we can start the task as soon as the loop starts
@@ -221,16 +221,7 @@ def __getitem__(self, item: K) -> "asyncio.Task[V]":
         try:
             return dict.__getitem__(self, item)
         except KeyError:
-            if self.concurrency:
-                # NOTE: we use a queue instead of a Semaphore to reduce memory use for use cases involving many many tasks
-                fut = self._queue.put_nowait(item)
-            else:
-                fut = create_task(
-                    coro=self._wrapped_func(item, **self._wrapped_func_kwargs),
-                    name=f"{self._name}[{item}]" if self._name else f"{item}",
-                )
-            dict.__setitem__(self, item, fut)
-            return fut
+            return self.__start_task(item)
 
     def __await__(self) -> Generator[Any, None, Dict[K, V]]:
         """Wait for all tasks to complete and return a dictionary of the results."""
@@ -592,6 +583,35 @@ async def _tasks_for_iterables(
                     "DEV: figure out how to handle this situation"
                 ) from None
 
+    @ASyncGeneratorFunction
+    async def _start_tasks_for_iterables(
+        self, *iterables: AnyIterableOrAwaitableIterable[K]
+    ) -> AsyncIterator[Tuple[K, "asyncio.Task[V]"]]:
+        """Start new tasks for each key in the provided iterables."""
+        # if we have any regular containers we can yield their contents right away
+        containers = [
+            iterable
+            for iterable in iterables
+            if not isinstance(iterable, AsyncIterable)
+            and isinstance(iterable, Iterable)
+        ]
+        for iterable in containers:
+            async for key in _yield_keys(iterable):
+                yield key, self.__start_task(key)
+
+        if remaining := [
+            iterable for iterable in iterables if iterable not in containers
+        ]:
+            try:
+                async for key in as_yielded(*[_yield_keys(iterable) for iterable in remaining]):  # type: ignore [attr-defined]
+                    yield key, self.__start_task(key)
+            except _EmptySequenceError:
+                if len(iterables) == 1:
+                    raise
+                raise RuntimeError(
+                    "DEV: figure out how to handle this situation"
+                ) from None
+
     def _if_pop_check_destroyed(self, pop: bool) -> None:
         if pop:
             if self._destroyed:
@@ -622,6 +642,18 @@ async def _wait_for_next_key(self) -> None:
             # check for exceptions
             await task
 
+    def __start_task(self, item: K) -> "asyncio.Future[V]":
+        if self.concurrency:
+            # NOTE: we use a queue instead of a Semaphore to reduce memory use for use cases involving many many tasks
+            fut = self._queue.put_nowait(item)
+        else:
+            fut = create_task(
+                coro=self._wrapped_func(item, **self._wrapped_func_kwargs),
+                name=f"{self._name}[{item}]" if self._name else f"{item}",
+            )
+        dict.__setitem__(self, item, fut)
+        return fut
+
     def __cleanup(self, t: "asyncio.Task[None]") -> None:
         # clear the slot and let the bound Queue die
         del self.__init_loader_coro