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 ee8692309f..d1ea79d0f9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/timeout/IdleStateHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/timeout/IdleStateHandler.java
@@ -304,18 +304,26 @@ public class IdleStateHandler extends SimpleChannelUpstreamHandler
 
     private void destroy(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) {
         State state = (State) ctx.getAttachment();
-        if (state.readerIdleTimeout != null) {
-            state.readerIdleTimeout.cancel();
-            state.readerIdleTimeout = null;
-        }
-        if (state.writerIdleTimeout != null) {
-            state.writerIdleTimeout.cancel();
-            state.writerIdleTimeout = null;
-        }
-        if (state.allIdleTimeout != null) {
-            state.allIdleTimeout.cancel();
-            state.allIdleTimeout = null;
+        
+        // Check if the state was set before, it may not if the destroy method was called before the 
+        // channelOpen(...) method. 
+        //
+        // See #143
+        if (state != null) {
+            if (state.readerIdleTimeout != null) {
+                state.readerIdleTimeout.cancel();
+                state.readerIdleTimeout = null;
+            }
+            if (state.writerIdleTimeout != null) {
+                state.writerIdleTimeout.cancel();
+                state.writerIdleTimeout = null;
+            }
+            if (state.allIdleTimeout != null) {
+                state.allIdleTimeout.cancel();
+                state.allIdleTimeout = null;
+            }
         }
+      
     }
 
     protected void channelIdle(