diff --git a/codec-dns/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/dns/DnsResponseDecoder.java b/codec-dns/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/dns/DnsResponseDecoder.java
index 3b52a9ca9d..7a3706b824 100644
--- a/codec-dns/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/dns/DnsResponseDecoder.java
+++ b/codec-dns/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/dns/DnsResponseDecoder.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandler;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
 import io.netty.channel.socket.DatagramPacket;
+import io.netty.handler.codec.CorruptedFrameException;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.MessageToMessageDecoder;
 import io.netty.util.CharsetUtil;
 
@@ -99,7 +100,7 @@ public class DnsResponseDecoder extends MessageToMessageDecoder<DatagramPacket>
                 // check for loops
                 checked += 2;
                 if (checked >= length) {
-                    return null;
+                    throw new CorruptedFrameException("name contains a loop.");
                 }
             } else {
                 name.append(buf.toString(buf.readerIndex(), len, CharsetUtil.UTF_8)).append('.');
diff --git a/codec-dns/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/dns/DnsResponseTest.java b/codec-dns/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/dns/DnsResponseTest.java
index 8e205462ad..707f0135cb 100644
--- a/codec-dns/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/dns/DnsResponseTest.java
+++ b/codec-dns/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/dns/DnsResponseTest.java
@@ -19,8 +19,7 @@ import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
 import io.netty.buffer.Unpooled;
 import io.netty.channel.embedded.EmbeddedChannel;
 import io.netty.channel.socket.DatagramPacket;
-import io.netty.handler.codec.DecoderException;
-
+import io.netty.handler.codec.CorruptedFrameException;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -100,8 +99,7 @@ public class DnsResponseTest {
     public void readMalormedResponseTest() throws Exception {
         EmbeddedChannel embedder = new EmbeddedChannel(new DnsResponseDecoder());
         ByteBuf packet = embedder.alloc().buffer(512).writeBytes(malformedLoopPacket);
-        exception.expect(DecoderException.class);
-        exception.expectMessage("java.lang.NullPointerException: name");
+        exception.expect(CorruptedFrameException.class);
         embedder.writeInbound(new DatagramPacket(packet, null, new InetSocketAddress(0)));
     }
 }