diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalChannel.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalChannel.java
index 2e6cc84df7..773683bf2f 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalChannel.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalChannel.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import io.netty.util.internal.InternalThreadLocalMap;
 import io.netty.util.internal.OneTimeTask;
 import io.netty.util.internal.PlatformDependent;
 
+import java.net.ConnectException;
 import java.net.SocketAddress;
 import java.nio.channels.AlreadyConnectedException;
 import java.nio.channels.ClosedChannelException;
@@ -476,7 +477,7 @@ public class LocalChannel extends AbstractChannel {
 
             Channel boundChannel = LocalChannelRegistry.get(remoteAddress);
             if (!(boundChannel instanceof LocalServerChannel)) {
-                Exception cause = new ChannelException("connection refused");
+                Exception cause = new ConnectException("connection refused: " + remoteAddress);
                 safeSetFailure(promise, cause);
                 close(voidPromise());
                 return;
diff --git a/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalChannelTest.java b/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalChannelTest.java
index 3b9c86aa75..8eac9f7415 100644
--- a/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalChannelTest.java
+++ b/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalChannelTest.java
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ import org.junit.AfterClass;
 import org.junit.BeforeClass;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
+import java.net.ConnectException;
 import java.nio.channels.ClosedChannelException;
 import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
 import java.util.concurrent.ThreadFactory;
@@ -862,6 +863,15 @@ public class LocalChannelTest {
         }
     }
 
+    @Test(expected = ConnectException.class)
+    public void testConnectionRefused() {
+        Bootstrap sb = new Bootstrap();
+        sb.group(group1)
+        .channel(LocalChannel.class)
+        .handler(new TestHandler())
+        .connect(LocalAddress.ANY).syncUninterruptibly();
+    }
+
     private static final class LatchChannelFutureListener extends CountDownLatch implements ChannelFutureListener {
         public LatchChannelFutureListener(int count) {
             super(count);