diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/timeout/IdleStateHandler.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/timeout/IdleStateHandler.java
index 8ea8c21c07..87ecb8c0ef 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/timeout/IdleStateHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/timeout/IdleStateHandler.java
@@ -201,7 +201,10 @@ public class IdleStateHandler extends SimpleChannelUpstreamHandler
     }
 
     public void beforeAdd(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
-        initialize(ctx);
+        if (ctx.getPipeline().isAttached()) {
+            // channelOpen() has been called already - initialize here instead.
+            initialize(ctx);
+        }
     }
 
     public void afterAdd(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
@@ -219,7 +222,7 @@ public class IdleStateHandler extends SimpleChannelUpstreamHandler
     @Override
     public void channelOpen(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ChannelStateEvent e)
             throws Exception {
-        lastReadTime = lastWriteTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
+        initialize(ctx);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/timeout/ReadTimeoutHandler.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/timeout/ReadTimeoutHandler.java
index febf61fa49..eed2a39b9b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/timeout/ReadTimeoutHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/timeout/ReadTimeoutHandler.java
@@ -120,7 +120,10 @@ public class ReadTimeoutHandler extends SimpleChannelUpstreamHandler
     }
 
     public void beforeAdd(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
-        initialize(ctx);
+        if (ctx.getPipeline().isAttached()) {
+            // channelOpen() has been called already - initialize here instead.
+            initialize(ctx);
+        }
     }
 
     public void afterAdd(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
@@ -138,7 +141,7 @@ public class ReadTimeoutHandler extends SimpleChannelUpstreamHandler
     @Override
     public void channelOpen(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ChannelStateEvent e)
             throws Exception {
-        updateLastReadTime();
+        initialize(ctx);
         ctx.sendUpstream(e);
     }