diff --git a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
index c7ebff1642..b3bae73296 100644
--- a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
+++ b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ package io.grpc.netty;
 
 import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkArgument;
 import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
-import static io.grpc.netty.Utils.CONTENT_TYPE_GRPC;
 import static io.grpc.netty.Utils.CONTENT_TYPE_HEADER;
 import static io.grpc.netty.Utils.HTTP_METHOD;
 import static io.grpc.netty.Utils.TE_HEADER;
@@ -420,7 +419,6 @@ class NettyServerHandler extends AbstractNettyHandler {
       throw Http2Exception.streamError(streamId, Http2Error.REFUSED_STREAM,
           "Method '%s' is not supported", headers.method());
     }
-    checkHeader(streamId, headers, CONTENT_TYPE_HEADER, CONTENT_TYPE_GRPC);
     // Remove the leading slash of the path and get the fully qualified method name
     CharSequence path = headers.path();
     if (path.charAt(0) != '/') {
diff --git a/netty/src/test/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandlerTest.java b/netty/src/test/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandlerTest.java
index 9a79cd068e..2af7c5c996 100644
--- a/netty/src/test/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandlerTest.java
+++ b/netty/src/test/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandlerTest.java
@@ -298,6 +298,24 @@ public class NettyServerHandlerTest extends NettyHandlerTestBase<NettyServerHand
         any(ChannelPromise.class));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void headersSupportExtensionContentType() throws Exception {
+    Http2Headers headers = new DefaultHttp2Headers()
+        .method(HTTP_METHOD)
+        .set(CONTENT_TYPE_HEADER, new AsciiString("application/grpc+json", UTF_8))
+        .set(TE_HEADER, TE_TRAILERS)
+        .path(new AsciiString("/foo/bar"));
+    ByteBuf headersFrame = headersFrame(STREAM_ID, headers);
+    channelRead(headersFrame);
+
+    ArgumentCaptor<NettyServerStream> streamCaptor =
+        ArgumentCaptor.forClass(NettyServerStream.class);
+    ArgumentCaptor<String> methodCaptor = ArgumentCaptor.forClass(String.class);
+    verify(transportListener).streamCreated(streamCaptor.capture(), methodCaptor.capture(),
+        any(Metadata.class));
+    stream = streamCaptor.getValue();
+  }
+
   private void createStream() throws Exception {
     Http2Headers headers = new DefaultHttp2Headers()
         .method(HTTP_METHOD)