diff --git a/handler/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/ssl/ApplicationProtocolNegotiationHandler.java b/handler/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/ssl/ApplicationProtocolNegotiationHandler.java
index 0e3ea0f39a..3df8cf5cb4 100644
--- a/handler/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/ssl/ApplicationProtocolNegotiationHandler.java
+++ b/handler/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/ssl/ApplicationProtocolNegotiationHandler.java
@@ -79,22 +79,29 @@ public abstract class ApplicationProtocolNegotiationHandler extends ChannelInbou
     @Override
     public void userEventTriggered(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object evt) throws Exception {
         if (evt instanceof SslHandshakeCompletionEvent) {
-            ctx.pipeline().remove(this);
 
-            SslHandshakeCompletionEvent handshakeEvent = (SslHandshakeCompletionEvent) evt;
-            if (handshakeEvent.isSuccess()) {
-                SslHandler sslHandler = ctx.pipeline().get(SslHandler.class);
-                if (sslHandler == null) {
-                    throw new IllegalStateException("cannot find a SslHandler in the pipeline (required for " +
-                                                    "application-level protocol negotiation)");
+            try {
+                SslHandshakeCompletionEvent handshakeEvent = (SslHandshakeCompletionEvent) evt;
+                if (handshakeEvent.isSuccess()) {
+                    SslHandler sslHandler = ctx.pipeline().get(SslHandler.class);
+                    if (sslHandler == null) {
+                        throw new IllegalStateException("cannot find a SslHandler in the pipeline (required for "
+                                + "application-level protocol negotiation)");
+                    }
+                    String protocol = sslHandler.applicationProtocol();
+                    configurePipeline(ctx, protocol != null ? protocol : fallbackProtocol);
+                } else {
+                    handshakeFailure(ctx, handshakeEvent.cause());
+                }
+            } catch (Throwable cause) {
+                exceptionCaught(ctx, cause);
+            } finally {
+                ChannelPipeline pipeline = ctx.pipeline();
+                if (pipeline.context(this) != null) {
+                    pipeline.remove(this);
                 }
-                String protocol = sslHandler.applicationProtocol();
-                configurePipeline(ctx, protocol != null? protocol : fallbackProtocol);
-            } else {
-                handshakeFailure(ctx, handshakeEvent.cause());
             }
         }
-
         ctx.fireUserEventTriggered(evt);
     }
 
@@ -119,6 +126,7 @@ public abstract class ApplicationProtocolNegotiationHandler extends ChannelInbou
     @Override
     public void exceptionCaught(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Throwable cause) throws Exception {
         logger.warn("{} Failed to select the application-level protocol:", ctx.channel(), cause);
+        ctx.fireExceptionCaught(cause);
         ctx.close();
     }
 }
diff --git a/handler/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/ssl/SniHandlerTest.java b/handler/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/ssl/SniHandlerTest.java
index 8d8003d745..17d2a6e0e4 100644
--- a/handler/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/ssl/SniHandlerTest.java
+++ b/handler/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/ssl/SniHandlerTest.java
@@ -16,6 +16,32 @@
 
 package io.netty.handler.ssl;
 
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.nullValue;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
+import static org.junit.Assume.assumeTrue;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+
+import javax.net.ssl.SSLEngine;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.junit.runners.Parameterized;
+
 import io.netty.bootstrap.Bootstrap;
 import io.netty.bootstrap.ServerBootstrap;
 import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
@@ -44,28 +70,10 @@ import io.netty.util.DomainNameMappingBuilder;
 import io.netty.util.Mapping;
 import io.netty.util.ReferenceCountUtil;
 import io.netty.util.ReferenceCounted;
-import io.netty.util.internal.ResourcesUtil;
 import io.netty.util.concurrent.Promise;
 import io.netty.util.internal.ObjectUtil;
+import io.netty.util.internal.ResourcesUtil;
 import io.netty.util.internal.StringUtil;
-import org.junit.Test;
-import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
-import org.junit.runners.Parameterized;
-
-import java.io.File;
-import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
-import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
-
-import javax.net.ssl.SSLEngine;
-
-import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
-import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.nullValue;
-import static org.junit.Assert.*;
-import static org.junit.Assume.assumeTrue;
 
 @RunWith(Parameterized.class)
 public class SniHandlerTest {
@@ -339,6 +347,8 @@ public class SniHandlerTest {
         SslContext sniContext = makeSslContext(provider, true);
         final SslContext clientContext = makeSslClientContext(provider, true);
         try {
+            final AtomicBoolean serverApnCtx = new AtomicBoolean(false);
+            final AtomicBoolean clientApnCtx = new AtomicBoolean(false);
             final CountDownLatch serverApnDoneLatch = new CountDownLatch(1);
             final CountDownLatch clientApnDoneLatch = new CountDownLatch(1);
 
@@ -363,6 +373,8 @@ public class SniHandlerTest {
                         p.addLast(new ApplicationProtocolNegotiationHandler("foo") {
                             @Override
                             protected void configurePipeline(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, String protocol) {
+                                // addresses issue #9131
+                                serverApnCtx.set(ctx.pipeline().context(this) != null);
                                 serverApnDoneLatch.countDown();
                             }
                         });
@@ -381,6 +393,8 @@ public class SniHandlerTest {
                         ch.pipeline().addLast(new ApplicationProtocolNegotiationHandler("foo") {
                             @Override
                             protected void configurePipeline(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, String protocol) {
+                                // addresses issue #9131
+                                clientApnCtx.set(ctx.pipeline().context(this) != null);
                                 clientApnDoneLatch.countDown();
                             }
                         });
@@ -395,6 +409,8 @@ public class SniHandlerTest {
 
                 assertTrue(serverApnDoneLatch.await(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
                 assertTrue(clientApnDoneLatch.await(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+                assertTrue(serverApnCtx.get());
+                assertTrue(clientApnCtx.get());
                 assertThat(handler.hostname(), is("sni.fake.site"));
                 assertThat(handler.sslContext(), is(sniContext));
             } finally {