diff --git a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyClientTransport.java b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyClientTransport.java
index 1c27222c2f..96636ab6ed 100644
--- a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyClientTransport.java
+++ b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyClientTransport.java
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ import io.netty.bootstrap.Bootstrap;
 import io.netty.channel.Channel;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelFuture;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelFutureListener;
-import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelOption;
 import io.netty.channel.EventLoop;
 import io.netty.channel.EventLoopGroup;
@@ -222,21 +221,7 @@ class NettyClientTransport implements ConnectionClientTransport {
     // Start the write queue as soon as the channel is constructed
     handler.startWriteQueue(channel);
     // Start the connection operation to the server.
-    channel.connect(address).addListener(new ChannelFutureListener() {
-      @Override
-      public void operationComplete(ChannelFuture future) throws Exception {
-        if (!future.isSuccess()) {
-          ChannelHandlerContext ctx = future.channel().pipeline().context(handler);
-          if (ctx != null) {
-            // NettyClientHandler doesn't propagate exceptions, but the negotiator will need the
-            // exception to fail any writes. Note that this fires after handler, because it is as if
-            // handler was propagating the notification.
-            ctx.fireExceptionCaught(future.cause());
-          }
-          future.channel().pipeline().fireExceptionCaught(future.cause());
-        }
-      }
-    });
+    channel.connect(address);
     // This write will have no effect, yet it will only complete once the negotiationHandler
     // flushes any pending writes.
     channel.write(NettyClientHandler.NOOP_MESSAGE).addListener(new ChannelFutureListener() {
diff --git a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/ProtocolNegotiators.java b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/ProtocolNegotiators.java
index 2a2f9c7190..c7dc2f3e66 100644
--- a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/ProtocolNegotiators.java
+++ b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/ProtocolNegotiators.java
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ import io.grpc.Internal;
 import io.grpc.Status;
 import io.grpc.internal.GrpcUtil;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelDuplexHandler;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelFuture;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelFutureListener;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandler;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerAdapter;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
@@ -445,6 +447,25 @@ public final class ProtocolNegotiators {
       }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Do not rely on channel handlers to propagate exceptions to us.
+     * {@link NettyClientHandler} is an example of a class that does not propagate exceptions.
+     * Add a listener to the connect future directly and do appropriate error handling.
+     */
+    @Override
+    public void connect(final ChannelHandlerContext ctx, SocketAddress remoteAddress,
+        SocketAddress localAddress, ChannelPromise promise) throws Exception {
+      super.connect(ctx, remoteAddress, localAddress, promise);
+      promise.addListener(new ChannelFutureListener() {
+        @Override
+        public void operationComplete(ChannelFuture future) throws Exception {
+          if (!future.isSuccess()) {
+            fail(ctx, future.cause());
+          }
+        }
+      });
+    }
+
     /**
      * If we encounter an exception, then notify all buffered writes that we failed.
      */