diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/execution/OrderedMemoryAwareThreadPoolExecutor.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/execution/OrderedMemoryAwareThreadPoolExecutor.java
index 23b7f17b37..6995b3bfb3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/execution/OrderedMemoryAwareThreadPoolExecutor.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/execution/OrderedMemoryAwareThreadPoolExecutor.java
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ public class OrderedMemoryAwareThreadPoolExecutor extends
             ChannelStateEvent se = (ChannelStateEvent) e;
             if (se.getState() == ChannelState.OPEN &&
                 !channel.isOpen()) {
-                childExecutors.remove(channel);
+                removeChildExecutor(key);
             }
         }
         return executor;