diff --git a/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToMessageDecoder.java b/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToMessageDecoder.java
index 9d01abe985..c2f5885e49 100644
--- a/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToMessageDecoder.java
+++ b/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToMessageDecoder.java
@@ -133,7 +133,6 @@ public abstract class ByteToMessageDecoder extends ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter
     ByteBuf cumulation;
     private Cumulator cumulator = MERGE_CUMULATOR;
     private boolean singleDecode;
-    private boolean decodeWasNull;
     private boolean first;
 
     protected ByteToMessageDecoder() {
@@ -238,7 +237,6 @@ public abstract class ByteToMessageDecoder extends ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter
                     cumulation = null;
                 }
                 int size = out.size();
-                decodeWasNull = size == 0;
 
                 for (int i = 0; i < size; i ++) {
                     ctx.fireChannelRead(out.get(i));
@@ -262,12 +260,6 @@ public abstract class ByteToMessageDecoder extends ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter
             // - https://github.com/netty/netty/issues/1764
             cumulation.discardSomeReadBytes();
         }
-        if (decodeWasNull) {
-            decodeWasNull = false;
-            if (!ctx.channel().config().isAutoRead()) {
-                ctx.read();
-            }
-        }
         ctx.fireChannelReadComplete();
     }
 
diff --git a/codec/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToMessageDecoderTest.java b/codec/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToMessageDecoderTest.java
index f5fd656976..b4e3cab0a5 100644
--- a/codec/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToMessageDecoderTest.java
+++ b/codec/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToMessageDecoderTest.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import io.netty.buffer.Unpooled;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter;
 import io.netty.channel.embedded.EmbeddedChannel;
+import io.netty.util.CharsetUtil;
 import io.netty.util.ReferenceCountUtil;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ import org.junit.Test;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue;
 import java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingDeque;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 
 public class ByteToMessageDecoderTest {
 
@@ -160,4 +162,61 @@ public class ByteToMessageDecoderTest {
         Assert.assertEquals(3, (int) queue.take());
         Assert.assertTrue(queue.isEmpty());
     }
+
+    // See https://github.com/netty/netty/pull/3263
+    @Test
+    public void testFireChannelReadCompleteOnlyWhenDecoded() {
+        final AtomicInteger readComplete = new AtomicInteger();
+        EmbeddedChannel ch = new EmbeddedChannel(new ByteToMessageDecoder() {
+            @Override
+            protected void decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf in, List<Object> out) throws Exception {
+                // Do nothing
+            }
+        }, new ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter() {
+            @Override
+            public void channelReadComplete(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                readComplete.incrementAndGet();
+            }
+        });
+        Assert.assertFalse(ch.writeInbound(Unpooled.copiedBuffer("test", CharsetUtil.US_ASCII)));
+        Assert.assertFalse(ch.finish());
+        Assert.assertEquals(0, readComplete.get());
+    }
+
+    // See https://github.com/netty/netty/pull/3263
+    @Test
+    public void testFireChannelReadCompleteWhenDecodeOnce() {
+        final AtomicInteger readComplete = new AtomicInteger();
+        EmbeddedChannel ch = new EmbeddedChannel(new ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter() {
+            @Override
+            public void channelRead(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg) throws Exception {
+                ctx.fireChannelRead(msg);
+                ctx.fireChannelRead(Unpooled.EMPTY_BUFFER);
+            }
+        }, new ByteToMessageDecoder() {
+            private boolean first = true;
+            @Override
+            protected void decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf in, List<Object> out) throws Exception {
+                if (first) {
+                    first = false;
+                    out.add(in.readSlice(in.readableBytes()).retain());
+                }
+            }
+        }, new ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter() {
+            @Override
+            public void channelReadComplete(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                readComplete.incrementAndGet();
+            }
+        });
+        Assert.assertTrue(ch.writeInbound(Unpooled.copiedBuffer("test", CharsetUtil.US_ASCII)));
+        Assert.assertTrue(ch.finish());
+        Assert.assertEquals(1, readComplete.get());
+        for (;;) {
+            ByteBuf buf = ch.readInbound();
+            if (buf == null) {
+                break;
+            }
+            buf.release();
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java
index f371c66502..cd7d286284 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java
@@ -35,6 +35,26 @@ abstract class AbstractChannelHandlerContext implements ChannelHandlerContext, R
     private final AbstractChannel channel;
     private final DefaultChannelPipeline pipeline;
     private final String name;
+
+    /**
+     * Set when a user calls {@link #fireChannelRead(Object)} on this context.
+     * Cleared when a user calls {@link #fireChannelReadComplete()} on this context.
+     *
+     * See {@link #fireChannelReadComplete()} to understand how this flag is used.
+     */
+    private volatile boolean firedChannelRead;
+
+    /**
+     * Set when a user calls {@link #read()} on this context.
+     * Cleared when a user calls {@link #fireChannelReadComplete()} on this context.
+     *
+     * See {@link #fireChannelReadComplete()} to understand how this flag is used.
+     */
+    private volatile boolean invokedRead;
+
+    /**
+     * {@code true} if and only if this context has been removed from the pipeline.
+     */
     private boolean removed;
 
     final ChannelHandlerInvoker invoker;
@@ -154,14 +174,51 @@ abstract class AbstractChannelHandlerContext implements ChannelHandlerContext, R
     public ChannelHandlerContext fireChannelRead(Object msg) {
         AbstractChannelHandlerContext next = findContextInbound();
         ReferenceCountUtil.touch(msg, next);
+        firedChannelRead = true;
         next.invoker().invokeChannelRead(next, msg);
         return this;
     }
 
     @Override
     public ChannelHandlerContext fireChannelReadComplete() {
-        AbstractChannelHandlerContext next = findContextInbound();
-        next.invoker().invokeChannelReadComplete(next);
+        /**
+         * If the handler of this context did not produce any messages via {@link #fireChannelRead(Object)},
+         * there's no reason to trigger {@code channelReadComplete()} even if the handler called this method.
+         *
+         * This is pretty common for the handlers that transform multiple messages into one message,
+         * such as byte-to-message decoder and message aggregators.
+         */
+        if (firedChannelRead) {
+            // The handler of this context produced a message, so we are OK to trigger this event.
+            firedChannelRead = false;
+            invokedRead = false;
+            AbstractChannelHandlerContext next = findContextInbound();
+            next.invoker().invokeChannelReadComplete(next);
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * At this point, we are sure the handler of this context did not produce anything and
+         * we suppressed the {@code channelReadComplete()} event.
+         *
+         * If the next handler invoked {@link #read()} to read something but nothing was produced
+         * by the handler of this context, someone has to issue another {@link #read()} operation
+         * until the handler of this context produces something.
+         *
+         * Why? Because otherwise the next handler will not receive {@code channelRead()} nor
+         * {@code channelReadComplete()} event at all for the {@link #read()} operation it issued.
+         */
+        if (invokedRead && !channel().config().isAutoRead()) {
+            /**
+             * The next (or upstream) handler invoked {@link #read()}, but it didn't get any
+             * {@code channelRead()} event. We should read once more, so that the handler of the current
+             * context have a chance to produce something.
+             */
+            read();
+        } else {
+            invokedRead = false;
+        }
+
         return this;
     }
 
@@ -249,6 +306,7 @@ abstract class AbstractChannelHandlerContext implements ChannelHandlerContext, R
     @Override
     public ChannelHandlerContext read() {
         AbstractChannelHandlerContext next = findContextOutbound();
+        invokedRead = true;
         next.invoker().invokeRead(next);
         return this;
     }
diff --git a/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/DefaultChannelPipelineTest.java b/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/DefaultChannelPipelineTest.java
index 734fa471b6..e36d171fd4 100644
--- a/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/DefaultChannelPipelineTest.java
+++ b/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/DefaultChannelPipelineTest.java
@@ -21,12 +21,15 @@ import io.netty.bootstrap.ServerBootstrap;
 import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
 import io.netty.buffer.Unpooled;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandler.Sharable;
+import io.netty.channel.embedded.EmbeddedChannel;
 import io.netty.channel.local.LocalAddress;
 import io.netty.channel.local.LocalChannel;
 import io.netty.channel.local.LocalServerChannel;
 import io.netty.util.AbstractReferenceCounted;
 import io.netty.util.ReferenceCountUtil;
 import io.netty.util.ReferenceCounted;
+import io.netty.util.concurrent.DefaultEventExecutorGroup;
+import io.netty.util.concurrent.EventExecutorGroup;
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.AfterClass;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -38,6 +41,7 @@ import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Queue;
 import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.*;
@@ -548,6 +552,249 @@ public class DefaultChannelPipelineTest {
         assertNull(pipeline.last());
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testSupressChannelReadComplete() throws Exception {
+        testSupressChannelReadComplete0(false);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testSupressChannelReadCompleteDifferentExecutors() throws Exception {
+        testSupressChannelReadComplete0(true);
+    }
+
+    // See:
+    //  https://github.com/netty/netty/pull/3263
+    //  https://github.com/netty/netty/pull/3272
+    private static void testSupressChannelReadComplete0(boolean executors) throws Exception {
+        final AtomicInteger read1 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger read2 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger readComplete1 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger readComplete2 = new AtomicInteger();
+
+        final CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);
+
+        final EventExecutorGroup group = executors ? new DefaultEventExecutorGroup(2) : null;
+
+        EmbeddedChannel ch = new EmbeddedChannel(new ChannelInitializer<Channel>() {
+            @Override
+            protected void initChannel(Channel ch) throws Exception {
+                ch.pipeline().addLast(group, new ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter() {
+                    @Override
+                    public void channelRead(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg) throws Exception {
+                        if (read1.incrementAndGet() == 1) {
+                            return;
+                        }
+                        ctx.fireChannelRead(msg);
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    public void channelReadComplete(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                        readComplete1.incrementAndGet();
+                        ctx.fireChannelReadComplete();
+                    }
+                });
+                ch.pipeline().addLast(group, new ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter() {
+                    @Override
+                    public void channelRead(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg) throws Exception {
+                        read2.incrementAndGet();
+                        ctx.fireChannelRead(msg);
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    public void channelReadComplete(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                        readComplete2.incrementAndGet();
+                        ctx.fireChannelReadComplete();
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    public void channelInactive(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                        latch.countDown();
+                    }
+                });
+            }
+        });
+
+        ch.writeInbound(1);
+        ch.writeInbound(2);
+        ch.writeInbound(3);
+        ch.finish();
+        latch.await();
+        assertEquals(3, read1.get());
+        assertEquals(3, readComplete1.get());
+
+        assertEquals(2, read2.get());
+        assertEquals(2, readComplete2.get());
+
+        assertEquals(2, ch.readInbound());
+        assertEquals(3, ch.readInbound());
+        assertNull(ch.readInbound());
+
+        if (group != null) {
+            group.shutdownGracefully();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testChannelReadTriggered() {
+        final AtomicInteger read1 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger channelRead1 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger channelReadComplete1 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger read2 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger channelRead2 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger channelReadComplete2 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger read3 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger channelRead3 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger channelReadComplete3 = new AtomicInteger();
+
+        EmbeddedChannel ch = new EmbeddedChannel(new ChannelDuplexHandler() {
+            @Override
+            public void read(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                read1.incrementAndGet();
+                ctx.read();
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void channelRead(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg) throws Exception {
+                channelRead1.incrementAndGet();
+                ctx.fireChannelRead(msg);
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void channelReadComplete(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                channelReadComplete1.incrementAndGet();
+                ctx.fireChannelReadComplete();
+            }
+        }, new ChannelDuplexHandler() {
+            @Override
+            public void read(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                read2.incrementAndGet();
+                ctx.read();
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void channelRead(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg) throws Exception {
+                // Consume
+                channelRead2.incrementAndGet();
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void channelReadComplete(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                channelReadComplete2.incrementAndGet();
+                ctx.fireChannelReadComplete();
+            }
+        }, new ChannelDuplexHandler() {
+            @Override
+            public void read(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                read3.incrementAndGet();
+                ctx.read();
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void channelRead(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg) throws Exception {
+                channelRead3.incrementAndGet();
+                ctx.fireChannelRead(msg);
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void channelReadComplete(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                channelReadComplete3.incrementAndGet();
+                ctx.fireChannelReadComplete();
+            }
+        });
+
+        ch.config().setAutoRead(false);
+
+        ch.writeInbound(1);
+        ch.writeInbound(2);
+        ch.writeInbound(3);
+        ch.finish();
+        assertEquals(4, read1.get());
+        assertEquals(3, channelRead1.get());
+        assertEquals(3, channelReadComplete1.get());
+
+        assertEquals(1, read2.get());
+        assertEquals(3, channelRead2.get());
+        assertEquals(3, channelReadComplete1.get());
+
+        assertEquals(1, read3.get());
+        assertEquals(0, channelRead3.get());
+        assertEquals(0, channelReadComplete3.get());
+
+        assertNull(ch.readInbound());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testChannelReadNotTriggeredWhenLast() throws Exception {
+        final AtomicInteger read1 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger channelRead1 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger channelReadComplete1 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger read2 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger channelRead2 = new AtomicInteger();
+        final AtomicInteger channelReadComplete2 = new AtomicInteger();
+
+        EmbeddedChannel ch = new EmbeddedChannel(new ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter());
+
+        // Ensure pipeline is really empty
+        ChannelPipeline pipeline = ch.pipeline();
+        while (pipeline.first() != null) {
+            pipeline.removeFirst();
+        }
+
+        pipeline.addLast(new ChannelDuplexHandler() {
+            @Override
+            public void read(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                read1.incrementAndGet();
+                ctx.read();
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void channelRead(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg) throws Exception {
+                channelRead1.incrementAndGet();
+                ctx.fireChannelRead(msg);
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void channelReadComplete(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                channelReadComplete1.incrementAndGet();
+                ctx.fireChannelReadComplete();
+            }
+        }, new ChannelDuplexHandler() {
+            @Override
+            public void read(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                read2.incrementAndGet();
+                ctx.read();
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void channelRead(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg) throws Exception {
+                // Consume
+                channelRead2.incrementAndGet();
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void channelReadComplete(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+                channelReadComplete2.incrementAndGet();
+                ctx.fireChannelReadComplete();
+            }
+        });
+
+        ch.config().setAutoRead(false);
+
+        ch.writeInbound(1);
+        ch.writeInbound(2);
+        ch.writeInbound(3);
+        ch.finish();
+        assertEquals(0, read1.get());
+        assertEquals(3, channelRead1.get());
+        assertEquals(3, channelReadComplete1.get());
+
+        assertEquals(0, read2.get());
+        assertEquals(3, channelRead2.get());
+        assertEquals(3, channelReadComplete1.get());
+
+        assertNull(ch.readInbound());
+    }
+
     private static int next(AbstractChannelHandlerContext ctx) {
         AbstractChannelHandlerContext next = ctx.next;
         if (next == null) {