diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/AbstractChannel.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/AbstractChannel.java
index 4ce044958d..13e6276eec 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/AbstractChannel.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/AbstractChannel.java
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractChannel extends DefaultAttributeMap implements Cha
     private final Channel parent;
     private final long hashCode = ThreadLocalRandom.current().nextLong();
     private final Unsafe unsafe;
-    private final DefaultChannelPipeline pipeline;
+    private final ChannelPipeline pipeline;
     private final ChannelFuture succeededFuture = new SucceededChannelFuture(this, null);
     private final VoidChannelPromise voidPromise = new VoidChannelPromise(this, true);
     private final VoidChannelPromise unsafeVoidPromise = new VoidChannelPromise(this, false);