diff --git a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpContentEncoder.java b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpContentEncoder.java
index 0e36b77495..b81edd133a 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpContentEncoder.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpContentEncoder.java
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ public abstract class HttpContentEncoder extends MessageToMessageCodec<HttpMessa
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Object encode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, HttpObject msg)
+    protected Object encode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, HttpObject msg)
             throws Exception {
 
         if (msg instanceof HttpResponse && ((HttpResponse) msg).getStatus().code() == 100) {
diff --git a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocket00FrameDecoder.java b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocket00FrameDecoder.java
index 95275ff1ff..7660381728 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocket00FrameDecoder.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocket00FrameDecoder.java
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ public class WebSocket00FrameDecoder extends ReplayingDecoder<Void> {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf in) throws Exception {
+    protected Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf in) throws Exception {
         // Discard all data received if closing handshake was received before.
         if (receivedClosingHandshake) {
             in.skipBytes(actualReadableBytes());
diff --git a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocket00FrameEncoder.java b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocket00FrameEncoder.java
index cb62ebd5a9..3f827a0e15 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocket00FrameEncoder.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocket00FrameEncoder.java
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ import io.netty.handler.codec.MessageToByteEncoder;
 public class WebSocket00FrameEncoder extends MessageToByteEncoder<WebSocketFrame> {
 
     @Override
-    public void encode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, WebSocketFrame msg, ByteBuf out) throws Exception {
+    protected void encode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, WebSocketFrame msg, ByteBuf out) throws Exception {
         if (msg instanceof TextWebSocketFrame) {
             // Text frame
             ByteBuf data = msg.data();
diff --git a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocket08FrameDecoder.java b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocket08FrameDecoder.java
index 81161adc20..d96cbc6c79 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocket08FrameDecoder.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocket08FrameDecoder.java
@@ -117,8 +117,7 @@ public class WebSocket08FrameDecoder extends ReplayingDecoder<WebSocket08FrameDe
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Object decode(
-            ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf in) throws Exception {
+    protected Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf in) throws Exception {
 
         // Discard all data received if closing handshake was received before.
         if (receivedClosingHandshake) {
diff --git a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/spdy/SpdyHttpDecoder.java b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/spdy/SpdyHttpDecoder.java
index 60f39550d0..18cf001016 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/spdy/SpdyHttpDecoder.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/spdy/SpdyHttpDecoder.java
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ public class SpdyHttpDecoder extends MessageToMessageDecoder<Object> {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg) throws Exception {
+    protected Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg) throws Exception {
         if (msg instanceof SpdySynStreamFrame) {
 
             // HTTP requests/responses are mapped one-to-one to SPDY streams.
diff --git a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/spdy/SpdyHttpEncoder.java b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/spdy/SpdyHttpEncoder.java
index ea3d9a3cc7..fe8fe31f07 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/spdy/SpdyHttpEncoder.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/spdy/SpdyHttpEncoder.java
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ public class SpdyHttpEncoder extends MessageToMessageEncoder<HttpObject> {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Object encode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, HttpObject msg) throws Exception {
+    protected Object encode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, HttpObject msg) throws Exception {
 
         List<Object> out = new ArrayList<Object>();
         if (msg instanceof HttpRequest) {
diff --git a/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksAuthRequestDecoder.java b/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksAuthRequestDecoder.java
index 31ff08649f..7485b37f3c 100644
--- a/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksAuthRequestDecoder.java
+++ b/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksAuthRequestDecoder.java
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ public class SocksAuthRequestDecoder extends ReplayingDecoder<SocksAuthRequestDe
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf byteBuf) throws Exception {
+    protected Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf byteBuf) throws Exception {
         switch (state()) {
             case CHECK_PROTOCOL_VERSION: {
                 version = SocksMessage.SubnegotiationVersion.fromByte(byteBuf.readByte());
diff --git a/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksAuthResponseDecoder.java b/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksAuthResponseDecoder.java
index 13e4f5c740..f2dba007e5 100644
--- a/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksAuthResponseDecoder.java
+++ b/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksAuthResponseDecoder.java
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ public class SocksAuthResponseDecoder extends ReplayingDecoder<SocksAuthResponse
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext channelHandlerContext, ByteBuf byteBuf) throws Exception {
+    protected Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext channelHandlerContext, ByteBuf byteBuf) throws Exception {
         switch (state()) {
             case CHECK_PROTOCOL_VERSION: {
                 version = SocksMessage.SubnegotiationVersion.fromByte(byteBuf.readByte());
diff --git a/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksCmdRequestDecoder.java b/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksCmdRequestDecoder.java
index ccab95edac..3ac67a93e7 100644
--- a/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksCmdRequestDecoder.java
+++ b/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksCmdRequestDecoder.java
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ public class SocksCmdRequestDecoder extends ReplayingDecoder<SocksCmdRequestDeco
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf byteBuf) throws Exception {
+    protected Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf byteBuf) throws Exception {
         switch (state()) {
             case CHECK_PROTOCOL_VERSION: {
                 version = SocksMessage.ProtocolVersion.fromByte(byteBuf.readByte());
diff --git a/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksCmdResponseDecoder.java b/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksCmdResponseDecoder.java
index e5bf2f01fb..5ed6178792 100644
--- a/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksCmdResponseDecoder.java
+++ b/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksCmdResponseDecoder.java
@@ -45,8 +45,7 @@ public class SocksCmdResponseDecoder extends ReplayingDecoder<SocksCmdResponseDe
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf byteBuf) throws Exception {
-
+    protected Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf byteBuf) throws Exception {
         switch (state()) {
             case CHECK_PROTOCOL_VERSION: {
                 version = SocksMessage.ProtocolVersion.fromByte(byteBuf.readByte());
diff --git a/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksInitRequestDecoder.java b/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksInitRequestDecoder.java
index 0f19ec30ea..e69794d03c 100644
--- a/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksInitRequestDecoder.java
+++ b/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksInitRequestDecoder.java
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ public class SocksInitRequestDecoder extends ReplayingDecoder<SocksInitRequestDe
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf byteBuf) throws Exception {
+    protected Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf byteBuf) throws Exception {
         switch (state()) {
             case CHECK_PROTOCOL_VERSION: {
                 version = SocksMessage.ProtocolVersion.fromByte(byteBuf.readByte());
diff --git a/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksInitResponseDecoder.java b/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksInitResponseDecoder.java
index 34ff29bacd..12f64ac122 100644
--- a/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksInitResponseDecoder.java
+++ b/codec-socks/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/socks/SocksInitResponseDecoder.java
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ public class SocksInitResponseDecoder extends ReplayingDecoder<SocksInitResponse
     }
 
     @Override
-    public SocksResponse decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf byteBuf) throws Exception {
+    protected SocksResponse decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf byteBuf) throws Exception {
         switch (state()) {
             case CHECK_PROTOCOL_VERSION: {
                 version = SocksMessage.ProtocolVersion.fromByte(byteBuf.readByte());
diff --git a/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToByteCodec.java b/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToByteCodec.java
index faaa2f3f64..5ace555b68 100644
--- a/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToByteCodec.java
+++ b/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ByteToByteCodec.java
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public abstract class ByteToByteCodec
 
     private final ByteToByteEncoder encoder = new ByteToByteEncoder() {
         @Override
-        public void encode(
+        protected void encode(
                 ChannelHandlerContext ctx,
                 ByteBuf in, ByteBuf out) throws Exception {
             ByteToByteCodec.this.encode(ctx, in, out);
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ public abstract class ByteToByteCodec
 
     private final ByteToByteDecoder decoder = new ByteToByteDecoder() {
         @Override
-        public void decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf in, ByteBuf out) throws Exception {
+        protected void decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf in, ByteBuf out) throws Exception {
             ByteToByteCodec.this.decode(ctx, in, out);
         }
 
diff --git a/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/MessageToMessageCodec.java b/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/MessageToMessageCodec.java
index b20838dfeb..3d5622c3df 100644
--- a/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/MessageToMessageCodec.java
+++ b/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/MessageToMessageCodec.java
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ public abstract class MessageToMessageCodec<INBOUND_IN, OUTBOUND_IN>
 
         @Override
         @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-        public Object encode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg) throws Exception {
+        protected Object encode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg) throws Exception {
             return MessageToMessageCodec.this.encode(ctx, (OUTBOUND_IN) msg);
         }
 
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ public abstract class MessageToMessageCodec<INBOUND_IN, OUTBOUND_IN>
 
         @Override
         @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-        public Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg) throws Exception {
+        protected Object decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg) throws Exception {
             return MessageToMessageCodec.this.decode(ctx, (INBOUND_IN) msg);
         }
 
diff --git a/codec/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ReplayingDecoderTest.java b/codec/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ReplayingDecoderTest.java
index a3f9948183..f28e076a59 100644
--- a/codec/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ReplayingDecoderTest.java
+++ b/codec/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/ReplayingDecoderTest.java
@@ -15,15 +15,15 @@
  */
 package io.netty.handler.codec;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
 import io.netty.buffer.ByteBufIndexFinder;
 import io.netty.buffer.Unpooled;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
 import io.netty.channel.embedded.EmbeddedByteChannel;
-
 import org.junit.Test;
 
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
 public class ReplayingDecoderTest {
 
     @Test
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ public class ReplayingDecoderTest {
         }
 
         @Override
-        public ByteBuf decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf in) {
+        protected ByteBuf decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf in) {
             ByteBuf msg = in.readBytes(in.bytesBefore(ByteBufIndexFinder.LF));
             in.skipBytes(1);
             return msg;
diff --git a/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/factorial/BigIntegerDecoder.java b/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/factorial/BigIntegerDecoder.java
index 8417a2285b..692fe8a944 100644
--- a/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/factorial/BigIntegerDecoder.java
+++ b/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/factorial/BigIntegerDecoder.java
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import java.math.BigInteger;
 public class BigIntegerDecoder extends ByteToMessageDecoder {
 
     @Override
-    public BigInteger decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf in) {
+    protected BigInteger decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf in) {
         // Wait until the length prefix is available.
         if (in.readableBytes() < 5) {
             return null;
diff --git a/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/factorial/NumberEncoder.java b/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/factorial/NumberEncoder.java
index 7342a26fd3..f667d64926 100644
--- a/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/factorial/NumberEncoder.java
+++ b/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/factorial/NumberEncoder.java
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import java.math.BigInteger;
 public class NumberEncoder extends MessageToByteEncoder<Number> {
 
     @Override
-    public void encode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Number msg, ByteBuf out) throws Exception {
+    protected void encode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Number msg, ByteBuf out) throws Exception {
         // Convert to a BigInteger first for easier implementation.
         BigInteger v;
         if (msg instanceof BigInteger) {