diff --git a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
index 500368e880f..77b448446b1 100644
--- a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
+++ b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
@@ -748,6 +748,7 @@ private void sendGrpcFrame(
       int streamId = cmd.stream().id();
       Http2Stream stream = connection().stream(streamId);
       if (stream == null) {
+        cmd.release();
         streamGone(streamId, promise);
         return;
       }