diff --git a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpHeaders.java b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpHeaders.java
index 525c9e696c..261e8d874c 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpHeaders.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpHeaders.java
@@ -1176,6 +1176,10 @@ public abstract class HttpHeaders implements Iterable<Map.Entry<String, String>>
             return true;
         }
 
+        if (name1 == null || name2 == null) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
         int nameLen = name1.length();
         if (nameLen != name2.length()) {
             return false;