diff --git a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/cookie/ClientCookieDecoder.java b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/cookie/ClientCookieDecoder.java
index e391c2144f..74cace7385 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/cookie/ClientCookieDecoder.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/cookie/ClientCookieDecoder.java
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ public final class ClientCookieDecoder extends CookieDecoder {
                 cookieBuilder.appendAttribute(nameBegin, nameEnd, valueBegin, valueEnd);
             }
         }
-        return cookieBuilder.cookie();
+        return cookieBuilder != null ? cookieBuilder.cookie() : null;
     }
 
     private static class CookieBuilder {
diff --git a/codec-http/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/cookie/ClientCookieDecoderTest.java b/codec-http/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/cookie/ClientCookieDecoderTest.java
index 60b85899c6..2cd69f98dc 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/cookie/ClientCookieDecoderTest.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/cookie/ClientCookieDecoderTest.java
@@ -203,6 +203,13 @@ public class ClientCookieDecoderTest {
         assertNull(cookie);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testDecodingInvalidValuesWithCommaAtStart() {
+        assertNull(ClientCookieDecoder.STRICT.decode(","));
+        assertNull(ClientCookieDecoder.STRICT.decode(",a"));
+        assertNull(ClientCookieDecoder.STRICT.decode(",a=a"));
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testDecodingLongValue() {
         String longValue =