diff --git a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketClientHandshaker00.java b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketClientHandshaker00.java
index fdf2a17f2a..53db1c8d1e 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketClientHandshaker00.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketClientHandshaker00.java
@@ -174,7 +174,9 @@ public class WebSocketClientHandshaker00 extends WebSocketClientHandshaker {
             @Override
             public void operationComplete(ChannelFuture future) {
                 ChannelPipeline p = future.channel().pipeline();
-                p.replace(HttpRequestEncoder.class, "ws-encoder", new WebSocket00FrameEncoder());
+                p.addAfter(
+                        p.context(HttpRequestEncoder.class).name(),
+                        "ws-encoder", new WebSocket00FrameEncoder());
             }
         });
 
@@ -233,7 +235,9 @@ public class WebSocketClientHandshaker00 extends WebSocketClientHandshaker {
 
         setHandshakeComplete();
 
-        channel.pipeline().get(HttpResponseDecoder.class).replace(
+        ChannelPipeline p = channel.pipeline();
+        p.remove(HttpRequestEncoder.class);
+        p.get(HttpResponseDecoder.class).replace(
                 "ws-decoder", new WebSocket00FrameDecoder(getMaxFramePayloadLength()));
     }
 
diff --git a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketClientHandshaker08.java b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketClientHandshaker08.java
index 05bff21925..6f04080628 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketClientHandshaker08.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketClientHandshaker08.java
@@ -153,7 +153,9 @@ public class WebSocketClientHandshaker08 extends WebSocketClientHandshaker {
             @Override
             public void operationComplete(ChannelFuture future) {
                 ChannelPipeline p = future.channel().pipeline();
-                p.replace(HttpRequestEncoder.class, "ws-encoder", new WebSocket08FrameEncoder(true));
+                p.addAfter(
+                        p.context(HttpRequestEncoder.class).name(),
+                        "ws-encoder", new WebSocket08FrameEncoder(true));
             }
         });
 
@@ -210,7 +212,9 @@ public class WebSocketClientHandshaker08 extends WebSocketClientHandshaker {
 
         setHandshakeComplete();
 
-        channel.pipeline().get(HttpResponseDecoder.class).replace(
+        ChannelPipeline p = channel.pipeline();
+        p.remove(HttpRequestEncoder.class);
+        p.get(HttpResponseDecoder.class).replace(
                 "ws-decoder",
                 new WebSocket08FrameDecoder(false, allowExtensions, getMaxFramePayloadLength()));
     }
diff --git a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketClientHandshaker13.java b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketClientHandshaker13.java
index a5a3668eaa..90b05893fd 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketClientHandshaker13.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketClientHandshaker13.java
@@ -153,7 +153,9 @@ public class WebSocketClientHandshaker13 extends WebSocketClientHandshaker {
             @Override
             public void operationComplete(ChannelFuture future) {
                 ChannelPipeline p = future.channel().pipeline();
-                p.replace(HttpRequestEncoder.class, "ws-encoder", new WebSocket13FrameEncoder(true));
+                p.addAfter(
+                        p.context(HttpRequestEncoder.class).name(),
+                        "ws-encoder", new WebSocket13FrameEncoder(true));
             }
         });
 
@@ -210,7 +212,9 @@ public class WebSocketClientHandshaker13 extends WebSocketClientHandshaker {
 
         setHandshakeComplete();
 
-        channel.pipeline().get(HttpResponseDecoder.class).replace(
+        ChannelPipeline p = channel.pipeline();
+        p.remove(HttpRequestEncoder.class);
+        p.get(HttpResponseDecoder.class).replace(
                 "ws-decoder",
                 new WebSocket13FrameDecoder(false, allowExtensions, getMaxFramePayloadLength()));
     }
diff --git a/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/http/websocketx/client/WebSocketClient.java b/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/http/websocketx/client/WebSocketClient.java
index 34e28e8617..279345d670 100644
--- a/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/http/websocketx/client/WebSocketClient.java
+++ b/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/http/websocketx/client/WebSocketClient.java
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpResponseDecoder;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.websocketx.CloseWebSocketFrame;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.websocketx.PingWebSocketFrame;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.websocketx.TextWebSocketFrame;
-import io.netty.handler.codec.http.websocketx.WebSocketClientHandshaker;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.websocketx.WebSocketClientHandshakerFactory;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.websocketx.WebSocketVersion;
 
@@ -79,9 +78,10 @@ public class WebSocketClient {
             // Connect with V13 (RFC 6455 aka HyBi-17). You can change it to V08 or V00.
             // If you change it to V00, ping is not supported and remember to change
             // HttpResponseDecoder to WebSocketHttpResponseDecoder in the pipeline.
-            final WebSocketClientHandshaker handshaker =
-                    new WebSocketClientHandshakerFactory().newHandshaker(
-                            uri, WebSocketVersion.V13, null, false, customHeaders);
+            final WebSocketClientHandler handler =
+                    new WebSocketClientHandler(
+                            new WebSocketClientHandshakerFactory().newHandshaker(
+                                    uri, WebSocketVersion.V13, null, false, customHeaders));
 
             b.group(new NioEventLoopGroup())
              .channel(NioSocketChannel.class)
@@ -92,17 +92,17 @@ public class WebSocketClient {
                      ChannelPipeline pipeline = ch.pipeline();
                      pipeline.addLast("decoder", new HttpResponseDecoder());
                      pipeline.addLast("encoder", new HttpRequestEncoder());
-                     pipeline.addLast("ws-handler", new WebSocketClientHandler(handshaker));
+                     pipeline.addLast("ws-handler", handler);
                  }
              });
 
             System.out.println("WebSocket Client connecting");
             Channel ch = b.connect().sync().channel();
-            handshaker.handshake(ch).sync();
+            handler.handshakeFuture().sync();
 
             // Send 10 messages and wait for responses
             System.out.println("WebSocket Client sending message");
-            for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
+            for (int i = 0; i < 1; i++) {
                 ch.write(new TextWebSocketFrame("Message #" + i));
             }
 
diff --git a/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/http/websocketx/client/WebSocketClientHandler.java b/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/http/websocketx/client/WebSocketClientHandler.java
index 1a2f78b5a4..b852d3941f 100644
--- a/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/http/websocketx/client/WebSocketClientHandler.java
+++ b/example/src/main/java/io/netty/example/http/websocketx/client/WebSocketClientHandler.java
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 package io.netty.example.http.websocketx.client;
 
 import io.netty.channel.Channel;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelFuture;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelInboundMessageHandlerAdapter;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpResponse;
@@ -51,11 +52,26 @@ import io.netty.util.CharsetUtil;
 public class WebSocketClientHandler extends ChannelInboundMessageHandlerAdapter<Object> {
 
     private final WebSocketClientHandshaker handshaker;
+    private ChannelFuture handshakeFuture;
 
     public WebSocketClientHandler(WebSocketClientHandshaker handshaker) {
         this.handshaker = handshaker;
     }
 
+    public ChannelFuture handshakeFuture() {
+        return handshakeFuture;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void beforeAdd(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+        handshakeFuture = ctx.newFuture();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void channelActive(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+        handshaker.handshake(ctx.channel());
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void channelInactive(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
         System.out.println("WebSocket Client disconnected!");
@@ -67,6 +83,7 @@ public class WebSocketClientHandler extends ChannelInboundMessageHandlerAdapter<
         if (!handshaker.isHandshakeComplete()) {
             handshaker.finishHandshake(ch, (HttpResponse) msg);
             System.out.println("WebSocket Client connected!");
+            handshakeFuture.setSuccess();
             return;
         }
 
@@ -91,6 +108,11 @@ public class WebSocketClientHandler extends ChannelInboundMessageHandlerAdapter<
     @Override
     public void exceptionCaught(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Throwable cause) throws Exception {
         cause.printStackTrace();
+
+        if (!handshakeFuture.isDone()) {
+            handshakeFuture.setFailure(cause);
+        }
+
         ctx.close();
     }
 }