diff --git a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/multipart/AbstractDiskHttpData.java b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/multipart/AbstractDiskHttpData.java
index 6c6f6262f9..13efed58a3 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/multipart/AbstractDiskHttpData.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/multipart/AbstractDiskHttpData.java
@@ -238,11 +238,12 @@ public abstract class AbstractDiskHttpData extends AbstractHttpData {
     @Override
     public void delete() {
         if (! isRenamed) {
-            if (file != null) {
+            if (file != null && file.exists()) {
                 if (!file.delete()) {
                     logger.warn("Failed to delete: {}", file);
                 }
             }
+            file = null;
         }
     }
 
@@ -322,6 +323,9 @@ public abstract class AbstractDiskHttpData extends AbstractHttpData {
         if (dest == null) {
             throw new NullPointerException("dest");
         }
+        if (file == null) {
+            throw new IOException("No file defined so cannot be renamed");
+        }
         if (!file.renameTo(dest)) {
             // must copy
             FileInputStream inputStream = new FileInputStream(file);