diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/nio/AbstractNioMessageChannel.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/nio/AbstractNioMessageChannel.java
index 3d05a46184..57dcc85e58 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/nio/AbstractNioMessageChannel.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/nio/AbstractNioMessageChannel.java
@@ -172,11 +172,19 @@ public abstract class AbstractNioMessageChannel extends AbstractNioChannel {
     }
 
     protected boolean closeOnReadError(Throwable cause) {
-        // ServerChannel should not be closed even on IOException because it can often continue
-        // accepting incoming connections. (e.g. too many open files)
-        return cause instanceof IOException &&
-                !(cause instanceof PortUnreachableException) &&
-                !(this instanceof ServerChannel);
+        if (!isActive()) {
+            // If the channel is not active anymore for whatever reason we should not try to continue reading.
+            return true;
+        }
+        if (cause instanceof PortUnreachableException) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        if (cause instanceof IOException) {
+            // ServerChannel should not be closed even on IOException because it can often continue
+            // accepting incoming connections. (e.g. too many open files)
+            return !(this instanceof ServerChannel);
+        }
+        return true;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioServerSocketChannel.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioServerSocketChannel.java
index 12662127c1..f2d6f16f65 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioServerSocketChannel.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioServerSocketChannel.java
@@ -200,4 +200,10 @@ public class NioServerSocketChannel extends AbstractNioMessageChannel
             clearReadPending();
         }
     }
+
+    // Override just to to be able to call directly via unit tests.
+    @Override
+    protected boolean closeOnReadError(Throwable cause) {
+        return super.closeOnReadError(cause);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioServerSocketChannelTest.java b/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioServerSocketChannelTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..80779902f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioServerSocketChannelTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2018 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.nio;
+
+import io.netty.channel.EventLoopGroup;
+import io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoopGroup;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
+import java.nio.channels.ServerSocketChannel;
+
+public class NioServerSocketChannelTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testCloseOnError() throws Exception {
+        ServerSocketChannel jdkChannel = ServerSocketChannel.open();
+        NioServerSocketChannel serverSocketChannel = new NioServerSocketChannel(jdkChannel);
+        EventLoopGroup group = new NioEventLoopGroup(1);
+        try {
+            group.register(serverSocketChannel).syncUninterruptibly();
+            serverSocketChannel.bind(new InetSocketAddress(0)).syncUninterruptibly();
+            Assert.assertFalse(serverSocketChannel.closeOnReadError(new IOException()));
+            Assert.assertTrue(serverSocketChannel.closeOnReadError(new IllegalArgumentException()));
+            serverSocketChannel.close().syncUninterruptibly();
+        } finally {
+            group.shutdownGracefully();
+        }
+    }
+}