diff --git a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/ThreadDeathWatcher.java b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/ThreadDeathWatcher.java
index 578ce76169..6d487533c9 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/ThreadDeathWatcher.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/ThreadDeathWatcher.java
@@ -104,6 +104,13 @@ public final class ThreadDeathWatcher {
 
         if (started.compareAndSet(false, true)) {
             Thread watcherThread = threadFactory.newThread(watcher);
+            // Set to null to ensure we not create classloader leaks by holds a strong reference to the inherited
+            // classloader.
+            // See:
+            // - https://github.com/netty/netty/issues/7290
+            // - https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-7008595
+            watcherThread.setContextClassLoader(null);
+
             watcherThread.start();
             ThreadDeathWatcher.watcherThread = watcherThread;
         }
diff --git a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/GlobalEventExecutor.java b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/GlobalEventExecutor.java
index e1f7679e5a..b6e9eba579 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/GlobalEventExecutor.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/concurrent/GlobalEventExecutor.java
@@ -215,6 +215,13 @@ public final class GlobalEventExecutor extends AbstractScheduledEventExecutor {
     private void startThread() {
         if (started.compareAndSet(false, true)) {
             Thread t = threadFactory.newThread(taskRunner);
+            // Set to null to ensure we not create classloader leaks by holds a strong reference to the inherited
+            // classloader.
+            // See:
+            // - https://github.com/netty/netty/issues/7290
+            // - https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-7008595
+            t.setContextClassLoader(null);
+
             // Set the thread before starting it as otherwise inEventLoop() may return false and so produce
             // an assert error.
             // See https://github.com/netty/netty/issues/4357