diff --git a/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testconductor/Player.scala b/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testconductor/Player.scala
index 94ddf5760c..f0d8a1a43f 100644
--- a/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testconductor/Player.scala
+++ b/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testconductor/Player.scala
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ private[akka] class PlayerHandler(
     val channel = event.getChannel
     log.debug("disconnected from {}", getAddrString(channel))
     fsm ! PoisonPill
-    RemoteConnection.shutdown(channel)
+    executor.execute(new Runnable { def run = RemoteConnection.shutdown(channel) }) // Must be shutdown outside of the Netty IO pool
   }
 
   override def messageReceived(ctx: ChannelHandlerContext, event: MessageEvent) = {
diff --git a/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testconductor/RemoteConnection.scala b/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testconductor/RemoteConnection.scala
index 08ce020b3c..94a76a21d3 100644
--- a/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testconductor/RemoteConnection.scala
+++ b/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testconductor/RemoteConnection.scala
@@ -71,7 +71,6 @@ private[akka] object RemoteConnection {
     case _                    ⇒ "[unknown]"
   }
 
-  def shutdown(channel: Channel) = {
-    channel.getFactory.releaseExternalResources()
-  }
+  def shutdown(channel: Channel) =
+    try channel.close() finally try channel.getFactory.shutdown() finally channel.getFactory.releaseExternalResources()
 }