diff --git a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
index 2b1e8126fd..2b06a3fcf5 100644
--- a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
+++ b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
@@ -678,9 +678,7 @@ class NettyServerHandler extends AbstractNettyHandler {
     return serverWriteQueue;
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Handler for commands sent from the stream.
-   */
+  /** Handler for commands sent from the stream. */
   @Override
   public void write(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg, ChannelPromise promise)
       throws Exception {
@@ -720,31 +718,45 @@ class NettyServerHandler extends AbstractNettyHandler {
     }
   }
 
-  private void closeStreamWhenDone(ChannelPromise promise, int streamId) throws Http2Exception {
-    final NettyServerStream.TransportState stream = serverStream(requireHttp2Stream(streamId));
-    if (stream != null) {
-      promise.addListener(new ChannelFutureListener() {
-        @Override
-        public void operationComplete(ChannelFuture future) {
-          stream.complete();
-        }
-      });
-    }
+  private void closeStreamWhenDone(ChannelPromise promise, Http2Stream stream) {
+    promise.addListener(
+        new ChannelFutureListener() {
+          @Override
+          public void operationComplete(ChannelFuture future) {
+            serverStream(stream).complete();
+          }
+        });
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Sends the given gRPC frame to the client.
-   */
-  private void sendGrpcFrame(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, SendGrpcFrameCommand cmd,
-      ChannelPromise promise) throws Http2Exception {
+  private static void streamGone(int streamId, ChannelPromise promise) {
+    promise.setFailure(
+        new IllegalStateException(
+            "attempting to write to stream " + streamId + " that no longer exists") {
+          @Override
+          public synchronized Throwable fillInStackTrace() {
+            return this;
+          }
+        });
+  }
+
+  /** Sends the given gRPC frame to the client. */
+  private void sendGrpcFrame(
+      ChannelHandlerContext ctx, SendGrpcFrameCommand cmd, ChannelPromise promise)
+      throws Http2Exception {
     try (TaskCloseable ignore = PerfMark.traceTask("NettyServerHandler.sendGrpcFrame")) {
       PerfMark.attachTag(cmd.stream().tag());
       PerfMark.linkIn(cmd.getLink());
+      int streamId = cmd.stream().id();
+      Http2Stream stream = connection().stream(streamId);
+      if (stream == null) {
+        streamGone(streamId, promise);
+        return;
+      }
       if (cmd.endStream()) {
-        closeStreamWhenDone(promise, cmd.stream().id());
+        closeStreamWhenDone(promise, stream);
       }
       // Call the base class to write the HTTP/2 DATA frame.
-      encoder().writeData(ctx, cmd.stream().id(), cmd.content(), 0, cmd.endStream(), promise);
+      encoder().writeData(ctx, streamId, cmd.content(), 0, cmd.endStream(), promise);
     }
   }
 
@@ -756,16 +768,14 @@ class NettyServerHandler extends AbstractNettyHandler {
     try (TaskCloseable ignore = PerfMark.traceTask("NettyServerHandler.sendResponseHeaders")) {
       PerfMark.attachTag(cmd.stream().tag());
       PerfMark.linkIn(cmd.getLink());
-      // TODO(carl-mastrangelo): remove this check once https://github.com/netty/netty/issues/6296
-      // is fixed.
       int streamId = cmd.stream().id();
       Http2Stream stream = connection().stream(streamId);
       if (stream == null) {
-        resetStream(ctx, streamId, Http2Error.CANCEL.code(), promise);
+        streamGone(streamId, promise);
         return;
       }
       if (cmd.endOfStream()) {
-        closeStreamWhenDone(promise, streamId);
+        closeStreamWhenDone(promise, stream);
       }
       encoder().writeHeaders(ctx, streamId, cmd.headers(), 0, cmd.endOfStream(), promise);
     }