diff --git a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/transport/netty/NettyClientTransport.java b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/transport/netty/NettyClientTransport.java
index 7819768eb5..eb62205a57 100644
--- a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/transport/netty/NettyClientTransport.java
+++ b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/transport/netty/NettyClientTransport.java
@@ -178,7 +178,8 @@ class NettyClientTransport extends AbstractClientTransport {
     b.handler(negotiation.initializer());
 
     // Start the connection operation to the server.
-    b.connect(address).addListener(new ChannelFutureListener() {
+    final ChannelFuture connectFuture = b.connect(address);
+    connectFuture.addListener(new ChannelFutureListener() {
       @Override
       public void operationComplete(ChannelFuture future) throws Exception {
         if (!future.isSuccess()) {
@@ -188,43 +189,44 @@ class NettyClientTransport extends AbstractClientTransport {
         }
 
         // Connected successfully, start the protocol negotiation.
-        channel = future.channel();
         negotiation.onConnected(channel);
+      }
+    });
+    Futures.addCallback(negotiation.completeFuture(), new FutureCallback<Void>() {
+      @Override
+      public void onSuccess(Void result) {
+        // The negotiation was successful.
+        // We should not send on the channel until negotiation completes. This is a hard requirement
+        // by SslHandler but is appropriate for HTTP/1.1 Upgrade as well.
+        channel = connectFuture.channel();
+        notifyStarted();
+      }
 
-        final ListenableFuture<Void> negotiationFuture = negotiation.completeFuture();
-        Futures.addCallback(negotiationFuture, new FutureCallback<Void>() {
-          @Override
-          public void onSuccess(Void result) {
-            // The negotiation was successful.
-            notifyStarted();
+      @Override
+      public void onFailure(Throwable t) {
+        // The negotiation failed.
+        notifyFailed(t);
+      }
+    });
 
-            // Handle transport shutdown when the channel is closed.
-            channel.closeFuture().addListener(new ChannelFutureListener() {
-              @Override
-              public void operationComplete(ChannelFuture future) throws Exception {
-                if (!future.isSuccess()) {
-                  // The close failed. Just notify that transport shutdown failed.
-                  notifyFailed(future.cause());
-                  return;
-                }
+    Channel channel = connectFuture.channel();
+    // Handle transport shutdown when the channel is closed.
+    channel.closeFuture().addListener(new ChannelFutureListener() {
+      @Override
+      public void operationComplete(ChannelFuture future) throws Exception {
+        if (!future.isSuccess()) {
+          // The close failed. Just notify that transport shutdown failed.
+          notifyFailed(future.cause());
+          return;
+        }
 
-                if (handler.connectionError() != null) {
-                  // The handler encountered a connection error.
-                  notifyFailed(handler.connectionError());
-                } else {
-                  // Normal termination of the connection.
-                  notifyStopped();
-                }
-              }
-            });
-          }
-
-          @Override
-          public void onFailure(Throwable t) {
-            // The negotiation failed.
-            notifyFailed(t);
-          }
-        });
+        if (handler.connectionError() != null) {
+          // The handler encountered a connection error.
+          notifyFailed(handler.connectionError());
+        } else {
+          // Normal termination of the connection.
+          notifyStopped();
+        }
       }
     });
   }