diff --git a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/AbstractEventExecutor.java b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/AbstractEventExecutor.java
index f8a9e98e68..44f5a48dd0 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/AbstractEventExecutor.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/AbstractEventExecutor.java
@@ -154,4 +154,9 @@ public abstract class AbstractEventExecutor extends AbstractExecutorService impl
     public ScheduledFuture<?> scheduleWithFixedDelay(Runnable command, long initialDelay, long delay, TimeUnit unit) {
         throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public void close() throws Exception {
+        shutdownGracefully().syncUninterruptibly();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/AbstractEventExecutorGroup.java b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/AbstractEventExecutorGroup.java
index 546258a995..63d95fd794 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/AbstractEventExecutorGroup.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/AbstractEventExecutorGroup.java
@@ -114,4 +114,9 @@ public abstract class AbstractEventExecutorGroup implements EventExecutorGroup {
     public void execute(Runnable command) {
         next().execute(command);
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public void close() throws Exception {
+        shutdownGracefully().syncUninterruptibly();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/EventExecutorGroup.java b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/EventExecutorGroup.java
index d2ba63389a..6fd919d613 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/EventExecutorGroup.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/EventExecutorGroup.java
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
  * to shut them down in a global fashion.
  *
  */
-public interface EventExecutorGroup extends ScheduledExecutorService {
+public interface EventExecutorGroup extends ScheduledExecutorService, AutoCloseable {
 
     /**
      * Returns {@code true} if and only if all {@link EventExecutor}s managed by this {@link EventExecutorGroup}
diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/PausableChannelEventExecutor.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/PausableChannelEventExecutor.java
index cb9f804180..48c4e5efda 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/PausableChannelEventExecutor.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/PausableChannelEventExecutor.java
@@ -326,6 +326,11 @@ abstract class PausableChannelEventExecutor implements PausableEventExecutor, Ch
         unwrap().execute(command);
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public void close() throws Exception {
+        unwrap().close();
+    }
+
     private static final class ChannelCallableEventExecutor<V> implements CallableEventExecutorAdapter<V> {
 
         final Channel channel;