diff --git a/codec-http2/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http2/Http2ConnectionHandler.java b/codec-http2/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http2/Http2ConnectionHandler.java
index c0a8b291c5..9a942e23c5 100644
--- a/codec-http2/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http2/Http2ConnectionHandler.java
+++ b/codec-http2/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http2/Http2ConnectionHandler.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import static io.netty.handler.codec.http2.Http2Error.NO_ERROR;
 import static io.netty.handler.codec.http2.Http2Error.PROTOCOL_ERROR;
 import static io.netty.handler.codec.http2.Http2Exception.connectionError;
 import static io.netty.handler.codec.http2.Http2Exception.isStreamError;
+import static io.netty.util.CharsetUtil.UTF_8;
 import static io.netty.util.internal.ObjectUtil.checkNotNull;
 import static java.lang.String.format;
 
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@ import io.netty.channel.ChannelPromise;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.ByteToMessageDecoder;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http2.Http2Exception.CompositeStreamException;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http2.Http2Exception.StreamException;
+import io.netty.util.CharsetUtil;
 import io.netty.util.concurrent.GenericFutureListener;
 import io.netty.util.internal.logging.InternalLogger;
 import io.netty.util.internal.logging.InternalLoggerFactory;
@@ -344,7 +346,7 @@ public class Http2ConnectionHandler extends ByteToMessageDecoder implements Http
 
         // If there are no active streams, close immediately after the send is complete.
         // Otherwise wait until all streams are inactive.
-        if (connection().numActiveStreams() == 0) {
+        if (isGracefulShutdownComplete()) {
             future.addListener(new ClosingChannelFutureListener(ctx, promise));
         } else {
             closeListener = new ClosingChannelFutureListener(ctx, promise);
@@ -416,18 +418,18 @@ public class Http2ConnectionHandler extends ByteToMessageDecoder implements Http
         stream.close();
 
         future.addListener(new ChannelFutureListener() {
-          @Override
-          public void operationComplete(ChannelFuture future) throws Exception {
-            // If this connection is closing and there are no longer any
-            // active streams, close after the current operation completes.
-            if (closeListener != null && connection().numActiveStreams() == 0) {
-                ChannelFutureListener closeListener = Http2ConnectionHandler.this.closeListener;
-                // This method could be called multiple times
-                // and we don't want to notify the closeListener multiple times.
-                Http2ConnectionHandler.this.closeListener = null;
-                closeListener.operationComplete(future);
+            @Override
+            public void operationComplete(ChannelFuture future) throws Exception {
+                // If this connection is closing and the graceful shutdown has completed, close the connection
+                // once this operation completes.
+                if (closeListener != null && isGracefulShutdownComplete()) {
+                    ChannelFutureListener closeListener = Http2ConnectionHandler.this.closeListener;
+                    // This method could be called multiple times
+                    // and we don't want to notify the closeListener multiple times.
+                    Http2ConnectionHandler.this.closeListener = null;
+                    closeListener.operationComplete(future);
+                }
             }
-          }
         });
     }
 
@@ -450,6 +452,15 @@ public class Http2ConnectionHandler extends ByteToMessageDecoder implements Http
         ctx.flush();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Called by the graceful shutdown logic to determine when it is safe to close the connection. Returns {@code true}
+     * if the graceful shutdown has completed and the connection can be safely closed. This implementation just
+     * guarantees that there are no active streams. Subclasses may override to provide additional checks.
+     */
+    protected boolean isGracefulShutdownComplete() {
+        return connection().numActiveStreams() == 0;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Handler for a connection error. Sends a GO_AWAY frame to the remote endpoint. Once all
      * streams are closed, the connection is shut down.
@@ -527,18 +538,26 @@ public class Http2ConnectionHandler extends ByteToMessageDecoder implements Http
 
             ChannelFuture future = frameWriter().writeGoAway(ctx, lastStreamId, errorCode, debugData, promise);
 
+            final String debugString = debugData.toString(UTF_8);
             future.addListener(new GenericFutureListener<ChannelFuture>() {
                 @Override
                 public void operationComplete(ChannelFuture future) throws Exception {
                     if (future.isSuccess()) {
                         if (errorCode != NO_ERROR.code()) {
+                            if (logger.isWarnEnabled()) {
+                                logger.warn(
+                                        format("Sent GOAWAY: lastStreamId '%d', errorCode '%d', " +
+                                                        "debugData '%s'. Forcing shutdown of the connection.",
+                                                lastStreamId, errorCode, debugString), future.cause());
+                            }
                             ctx.close();
                         }
                     } else {
                         if (logger.isErrorEnabled()) {
                             logger.error(
-                                   format("Sending GOAWAY failed: lastStreamId '%d', errorCode '%d', debugData '%s'.",
-                                           lastStreamId, errorCode, debugData), future.cause());
+                                    format("Sending GOAWAY failed: lastStreamId '%d', errorCode '%d', " +
+                                                    "debugData '%s'. Forcing shutdown of the connection.",
+                                            lastStreamId, errorCode, debugString), future.cause());
                         }
                         ctx.close();
                     }