diff --git a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketProtocolHandler.java b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketProtocolHandler.java
index ccbccac0d0..547fc358a8 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketProtocolHandler.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketProtocolHandler.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import io.netty.channel.ChannelFutureListener;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelOutboundHandler;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelPromise;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelPromiseNotifier;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.MessageToMessageDecoder;
 import io.netty.util.ReferenceCountUtil;
 import io.netty.util.concurrent.ScheduledFuture;
@@ -110,13 +111,12 @@ abstract class WebSocketProtocolHandler extends MessageToMessageDecoder<WebSocke
         if (closeSent != null) {
             ReferenceCountUtil.release(msg);
             promise.setFailure(new ClosedChannelException());
-            return;
+        } else if (msg instanceof CloseWebSocketFrame) {
+            closeSent = promise.unvoid();
+            ctx.write(msg).addListener(new ChannelPromiseNotifier(false, closeSent));
+        } else {
+            ctx.write(msg, promise);
         }
-        if (msg instanceof CloseWebSocketFrame) {
-            promise = promise.unvoid();
-            closeSent = promise;
-        }
-        ctx.write(msg, promise);
     }
 
     private void applyCloseSentTimeout(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) {
diff --git a/codec-http/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketProtocolHandlerTest.java b/codec-http/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketProtocolHandlerTest.java
index b59cc1e38f..0e5f87657a 100644
--- a/codec-http/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketProtocolHandlerTest.java
+++ b/codec-http/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/http/websocketx/WebSocketProtocolHandlerTest.java
@@ -18,10 +18,18 @@ package io.netty.handler.codec.http.websocketx;
 
 import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
 import io.netty.buffer.Unpooled;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelFuture;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelOutboundHandlerAdapter;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelPromise;
 import io.netty.channel.embedded.EmbeddedChannel;
 import io.netty.handler.flow.FlowControlHandler;
+import io.netty.util.ReferenceCountUtil;
+import org.hamcrest.Matchers;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+
 import static io.netty.util.CharsetUtil.UTF_8;
 import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 
@@ -139,6 +147,33 @@ public class WebSocketProtocolHandlerTest {
         assertFalse(channel.finish());
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testTimeout() throws Exception {
+        final AtomicReference<ChannelPromise> ref = new AtomicReference<ChannelPromise>();
+        WebSocketProtocolHandler handler = new WebSocketProtocolHandler(
+                false, WebSocketCloseStatus.NORMAL_CLOSURE, 1) { };
+        EmbeddedChannel channel = new EmbeddedChannel(new ChannelOutboundHandlerAdapter() {
+            @Override
+            public void write(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg, ChannelPromise promise) {
+                ref.set(promise);
+                ReferenceCountUtil.release(msg);
+            }
+        }, handler);
+
+        ChannelFuture future = channel.writeAndFlush(new CloseWebSocketFrame());
+        ChannelHandlerContext ctx = channel.pipeline().context(WebSocketProtocolHandler.class);
+        handler.close(ctx, ctx.newPromise());
+
+        do {
+            Thread.sleep(10);
+            channel.runPendingTasks();
+        } while (!future.isDone());
+
+        assertThat(future.cause(), Matchers.instanceOf(WebSocketHandshakeException.class));
+        assertFalse(ref.get().isDone());
+        assertFalse(channel.finish());
+    }
+
     /**
      * Asserts that a message was propagated inbound through the channel.
      */