diff --git a/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/AbstractHttpChannelSink.java b/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/AbstractHttpChannelSink.java
deleted file mode 100644
index e578a2dcfe..0000000000
--- a/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/AbstractHttpChannelSink.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2011 The Netty Project
- *
- * The Netty Project licenses this file to you under the Apache License,
- * version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
- * with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at:
- *
- * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
- * WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
- * License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-
-package io.netty.channel.socket.http;
-
-import io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelSink;
-import io.netty.channel.ChannelEvent;
-import io.netty.channel.ChannelPipeline;
-
-public abstract class AbstractHttpChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink{
-
-    @Override
-    public void fireUpstreamEventLater(ChannelPipeline pipeline, ChannelEvent e) throws Exception {
-        pipeline.sendUpstream(e);
-    }
-
-}
diff --git a/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/HttpTunnelAcceptedChannelSink.java b/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/HttpTunnelAcceptedChannelSink.java
index ff0be867c6..591d20ac38 100644
--- a/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/HttpTunnelAcceptedChannelSink.java
+++ b/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/HttpTunnelAcceptedChannelSink.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package io.netty.channel.socket.http;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 
 import io.netty.buffer.ChannelBuffer;
+import io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelSink;
 import io.netty.channel.Channel;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelEvent;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelFuture;
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ import io.netty.channel.MessageEvent;
  * from here to the ServerMessageSwitch, which queues the data awaiting a poll request from the
  * client end of the tunnel.
  */
-class HttpTunnelAcceptedChannelSink extends AbstractHttpChannelSink {
+class HttpTunnelAcceptedChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink {
 
     final SaturationManager saturationManager;
 
diff --git a/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/HttpTunnelClientChannelSink.java b/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/HttpTunnelClientChannelSink.java
index 6a55acf7c1..5f1ecce1c5 100644
--- a/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/HttpTunnelClientChannelSink.java
+++ b/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/HttpTunnelClientChannelSink.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ package io.netty.channel.socket.http;
 
 import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
 
+import io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelSink;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelEvent;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelPipeline;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelStateEvent;
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ import io.netty.channel.MessageEvent;
  * Sink of a client channel, deals with sunk events and then makes appropriate calls
  * on the channel itself to push data.
  */
-class HttpTunnelClientChannelSink extends AbstractHttpChannelSink {
+class HttpTunnelClientChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink {
 
     @Override
     public void eventSunk(ChannelPipeline pipeline, ChannelEvent e)
diff --git a/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/HttpTunnelServerChannelSink.java b/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/HttpTunnelServerChannelSink.java
index a7ed9ee1bb..e755229674 100644
--- a/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/HttpTunnelServerChannelSink.java
+++ b/transport-http/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/HttpTunnelServerChannelSink.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ package io.netty.channel.socket.http;
 
 import java.net.SocketAddress;
 
+import io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelSink;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelEvent;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelFuture;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelFutureListener;
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ import io.netty.channel.socket.ServerSocketChannel;
 
 /**
  */
-class HttpTunnelServerChannelSink extends AbstractHttpChannelSink {
+class HttpTunnelServerChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink {
 
     private ChannelFutureListener closeHook;
 
diff --git a/transport-http/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/FakeChannelSink.java b/transport-http/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/FakeChannelSink.java
index 0906755de0..0798eb94ad 100644
--- a/transport-http/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/FakeChannelSink.java
+++ b/transport-http/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/socket/http/FakeChannelSink.java
@@ -19,13 +19,14 @@ package io.netty.channel.socket.http;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.Queue;
 
+import io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelSink;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelEvent;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelPipeline;
 
 /**
  * A fake channel sink for use in testing
  */
-public class FakeChannelSink extends AbstractHttpChannelSink {
+public class FakeChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink {
 
     public Queue<ChannelEvent> events = new LinkedList<ChannelEvent>();
 
diff --git a/transport-rxtx/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/rxtx/RxtxChannelSink.java b/transport-rxtx/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/rxtx/RxtxChannelSink.java
index 5009dc1427..fd1c34c0a0 100644
--- a/transport-rxtx/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/rxtx/RxtxChannelSink.java
+++ b/transport-rxtx/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/rxtx/RxtxChannelSink.java
@@ -329,12 +329,4 @@ public class RxtxChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink {
             }
         }
     }
-    
-    /**
-     * Just fire the event now by calling {@link ChannelPipeline#sendUpstream(ChannelEvent)} as this implementation does not support it otherwise
-     */
-    @Override
-    public void fireUpstreamEventLater(ChannelPipeline pipeline, ChannelEvent event) throws Exception {
-        pipeline.sendUpstream(event);
-    }
 }
diff --git a/transport-sctp/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/sctp/AbstractScptChannelSink.java b/transport-sctp/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/sctp/AbstractScptChannelSink.java
index 5daba78839..f7f458639c 100644
--- a/transport-sctp/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/sctp/AbstractScptChannelSink.java
+++ b/transport-sctp/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/sctp/AbstractScptChannelSink.java
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import io.netty.channel.Channel;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelEvent;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelPipeline;
 
-public abstract class AbstractScptChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink{
+public abstract class AbstractScptChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink {
 
     @Override
     public void fireUpstreamEventLater(final ChannelPipeline pipeline, final ChannelEvent e) throws Exception {
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractScptChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink{
                 pipeline.sendUpstream(e);
             }
         } else {
-            throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+            super.fireUpstreamEventLater(pipeline, e);
         }
 
     }
diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/AbstractChannelSink.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/AbstractChannelSink.java
index a1c27839ff..69b199aeb7 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/AbstractChannelSink.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/AbstractChannelSink.java
@@ -43,7 +43,24 @@ public abstract class AbstractChannelSink implements ChannelSink {
         if (actualCause == null) {
             actualCause = cause;
         }
-
-        fireExceptionCaught(event.getChannel(), actualCause);
+        if (isFireExceptionCaughtLater(event, actualCause)) {
+            fireExceptionCaughtLater(event.getChannel(), actualCause);
+        } else {
+            fireExceptionCaught(event.getChannel(), actualCause);
+        }
     }
+    
+    protected boolean isFireExceptionCaughtLater(ChannelEvent event, Throwable actualCause) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * This implementation just send the event now via {@link ChannelPipeline#sendUpstream(ChannelEvent)}. Sub-classes should override this if they can handle it
+     * in a better way
+     */
+    @Override
+    public void fireUpstreamEventLater(ChannelPipeline pipeline, ChannelEvent e) throws Exception {
+        pipeline.sendUpstream(e);
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/iostream/IoStreamChannelSink.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/iostream/IoStreamChannelSink.java
index 51de5d3311..a0d75ceef7 100755
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/iostream/IoStreamChannelSink.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/iostream/IoStreamChannelSink.java
@@ -177,12 +177,4 @@ public class IoStreamChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink {
             }
         }
     }
-
-    /**
-     * This just calls {@link ChannelPipeline#sendUpstream(ChannelEvent)} as the transport does not support it
-     */
-    @Override
-    public void fireUpstreamEventLater(ChannelPipeline pipeline, ChannelEvent e) throws Exception {
-        pipeline.sendUpstream(e);
-    }
 }
diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalClientChannelSink.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalClientChannelSink.java
index d882725de0..9b6bd455de 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalClientChannelSink.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalClientChannelSink.java
@@ -85,14 +85,6 @@ final class LocalClientChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink {
         }
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Just fire the event now by calling {@link ChannelPipeline#sendUpstream(ChannelEvent)} as this implementation does not support it otherwise
-     */
-    @Override
-    public void fireUpstreamEventLater(ChannelPipeline pipeline, ChannelEvent event) throws Exception {
-        pipeline.sendUpstream(event);
-    }
-    
     private void bind(DefaultLocalChannel channel, ChannelFuture future, LocalAddress localAddress) {
         try {
             if (!LocalChannelRegistry.register(localAddress, channel)) {
diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalServerChannelSink.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalServerChannelSink.java
index 6ead0ad3a2..6bfa780f28 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalServerChannelSink.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/local/LocalServerChannelSink.java
@@ -42,14 +42,6 @@ final class LocalServerChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink {
         }
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Just fire the event now by calling {@link ChannelPipeline#sendUpstream(ChannelEvent)} as this implementation does not support it otherwise
-     */
-    @Override
-    public void fireUpstreamEventLater(ChannelPipeline pipeline, ChannelEvent event) throws Exception {
-        pipeline.sendUpstream(event);
-    }
-    
     private void handleServerChannel(ChannelEvent e) {
         if (!(e instanceof ChannelStateEvent)) {
             return;
diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/Worker.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/Worker.java
index eebfc74d40..64dc433038 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/Worker.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/Worker.java
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ package io.netty.channel.socket;
  * A {@link Worker} is responsible to dispatch IO operations
  *
  */
-public interface Worker extends Runnable{
+public interface Worker extends Runnable {
 
     /**
      * Execute the given {@link Runnable} in the IO-Thread. This may be now or later once the IO-Thread do some other work.
diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/AbstractNioChannelSink.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/AbstractNioChannelSink.java
index 85a8d03d3a..9ecdcb0699 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/AbstractNioChannelSink.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/AbstractNioChannelSink.java
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import io.netty.channel.Channel;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelEvent;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelPipeline;
 
-public abstract class AbstractNioChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink{
+public abstract class AbstractNioChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink {
 
     @Override
     public void fireUpstreamEventLater(final ChannelPipeline pipeline, final ChannelEvent e) throws Exception {
@@ -41,9 +41,19 @@ public abstract class AbstractNioChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink{
                 pipeline.sendUpstream(e);
             }
         } else {
-            throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+            super.fireUpstreamEventLater(pipeline, e);
         }
 
     }
 
+    @Override
+    protected boolean isFireExceptionCaughtLater(ChannelEvent event, Throwable actualCause) {
+        Channel channel = event.getChannel();
+        boolean fireLater = false;
+        if (channel instanceof AbstractNioChannel<?>) {
+            fireLater =  !AbstractNioWorker.isIoThread((AbstractNioChannel<?>) channel);
+        }
+        return fireLater;
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/AbstractNioWorker.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/AbstractNioWorker.java
index 14ffdc6d99..8f6dafd468 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/AbstractNioWorker.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/AbstractNioWorker.java
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ abstract class AbstractNioWorker implements Worker {
     }
 
     static boolean isIoThread(AbstractNioChannel<?> channel) {
-        return Thread.currentThread() == channel.worker.thread;
+        return channel.worker.thread == null || Thread.currentThread() == channel.worker.thread;
     }
     
     private void setOpWrite(AbstractNioChannel<?> channel) {
diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/oio/AbstractOioChannelSink.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/oio/AbstractOioChannelSink.java
index 889a08aa26..633818ec01 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/oio/AbstractOioChannelSink.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/oio/AbstractOioChannelSink.java
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import io.netty.channel.ChannelEvent;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelPipeline;
 import io.netty.channel.socket.Worker;
 
-public abstract class AbstractOioChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink{
+public abstract class AbstractOioChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink {
 
     @Override
     public void fireUpstreamEventLater(final ChannelPipeline pipeline, final ChannelEvent e) throws Exception {
@@ -44,9 +44,19 @@ public abstract class AbstractOioChannelSink extends AbstractChannelSink{
             }
            
         } else {
-            throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+            super.fireUpstreamEventLater(pipeline, e);
         }
 
     }
 
+    @Override
+    protected boolean isFireExceptionCaughtLater(ChannelEvent event, Throwable actualCause) {
+        Channel channel = event.getChannel();
+        boolean fireLater = false;
+        if (channel instanceof AbstractOioChannel) {
+            fireLater = !AbstractOioWorker.isIoThead((AbstractOioChannel) channel);
+        }
+        return fireLater;
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/oio/AbstractOioWorker.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/oio/AbstractOioWorker.java
index 97b20149a9..167b58309d 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/oio/AbstractOioWorker.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/oio/AbstractOioWorker.java
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import java.util.Queue;
  *
  * @param <C> {@link AbstractOioChannel}
  */
-abstract class AbstractOioWorker<C extends AbstractOioChannel> implements Worker{
+abstract class AbstractOioWorker<C extends AbstractOioChannel> implements Worker {
 
     private final Queue<Runnable> eventQueue = QueueFactory.createQueue(Runnable.class);
     
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ abstract class AbstractOioWorker<C extends AbstractOioChannel> implements Worker
     }
     
     static boolean isIoThead(AbstractOioChannel channel) {
-        return Thread.currentThread() == channel.workerThread;
+        return channel.workerThread == null || Thread.currentThread() == channel.workerThread;
     }
     
     @Override