diff --git a/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToMessageDecoder.java b/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToMessageDecoder.java
index 28c3dc12f4..9d52b5506e 100644
--- a/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToMessageDecoder.java
+++ b/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToMessageDecoder.java
@@ -265,8 +265,8 @@ public abstract class ByteToMessageDecoder extends ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter
                 callDecode(ctx, cumulation, out);
             } catch (DecoderException e) {
                 throw e;
-            } catch (Throwable t) {
-                throw new DecoderException(t);
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                throw new DecoderException(e);
             } finally {
                 if (cumulation != null && !cumulation.isReadable()) {
                     numReads = 0;
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ public abstract class ByteToMessageDecoder extends ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter
             }
         } catch (DecoderException e) {
             throw e;
-        } catch (Throwable cause) {
+        } catch (Exception cause) {
             throw new DecoderException(cause);
         }
     }