diff --git a/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientConfig.java b/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientConfig.java
index 72f280fc11..7b46f14c5a 100644
--- a/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientConfig.java
+++ b/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientConfig.java
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@
 import io.netty5.handler.codec.http.HttpClientCodec;
 import io.netty5.handler.codec.http.HttpClientUpgradeHandler;
 import io.netty5.handler.codec.http.HttpContentDecompressor;
+import io.netty5.handler.codec.http.HttpObject;
+import io.netty5.handler.codec.http.HttpResponse;
 import io.netty5.handler.codec.http.headers.HttpHeaders;
 import io.netty5.handler.codec.http.HttpMethod;
 import io.netty5.handler.codec.http2.Http2ClientUpgradeCodec;
@@ -81,6 +83,7 @@
 import reactor.util.annotation.Nullable;
 import reactor.util.context.Context;
 
+import static io.netty5.handler.codec.http.HttpResponseStatus.SWITCHING_PROTOCOLS;
 import static reactor.netty5.ReactorNetty.format;
 import static reactor.netty5.http.client.Http2ConnectionProvider.OWNER;
 
@@ -607,8 +610,8 @@ static void configureHttp11OrH2CleartextPipeline(
 		Http2ClientUpgradeCodec upgradeCodec = new Http2ClientUpgradeCodec(http2FrameCodec,
 				new H2CleartextCodec(http2FrameCodec, opsFactory, acceptGzip, metricsRecorder, uriTagValue));
 
-		HttpClientUpgradeHandler<?> upgradeHandler =
-				new HttpClientUpgradeHandler<DefaultHttpContent>(httpClientCodec, upgradeCodec, decoder.h2cMaxContentLength());
+		ReactorNettyHttpClientUpgradeHandler upgradeHandler = new ReactorNettyHttpClientUpgradeHandler(
+				http2FrameCodec, httpClientCodec, upgradeCodec, decoder.h2cMaxContentLength());
 
 		p.addBefore(NettyPipeline.ReactiveBridge, null, httpClientCodec)
 		 .addBefore(NettyPipeline.ReactiveBridge, NettyPipeline.H2CUpgradeHandler, upgradeHandler)
@@ -1001,6 +1004,39 @@ public void onUncaughtException(Connection connection, Throwable error) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	static final class ReactorNettyHttpClientUpgradeHandler extends HttpClientUpgradeHandler<DefaultHttpContent> {
+
+		final Http2FrameCodec http2FrameCodec;
+
+		boolean decoded;
+
+		ReactorNettyHttpClientUpgradeHandler(
+				Http2FrameCodec http2FrameCodec,
+				SourceCodec sourceCodec,
+				UpgradeCodec upgradeCodec,
+				int maxContentLength) {
+			super(sourceCodec, upgradeCodec, maxContentLength);
+			this.http2FrameCodec = http2FrameCodec;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		protected void decode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, HttpObject msg) throws Exception {
+			decoded = true;
+			if (msg instanceof HttpResponse httpResponse && !SWITCHING_PROTOCOLS.equals(httpResponse.status())) {
+				http2FrameCodec.encoder().close();
+			}
+			super.decode(ctx, msg);
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public void handlerRemoved(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) {
+			if (!decoded) {
+				// Exception may happen before decoding the server response
+				http2FrameCodec.encoder().close();
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	static final class StreamConnectionObserver implements ConnectionObserver {
 
 		final Context context;
diff --git a/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/io.projectreactor.netty/reactor-netty5-http/reflect-config.json b/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/io.projectreactor.netty/reactor-netty5-http/reflect-config.json
index 6a106308d1..8c946f8d9e 100644
--- a/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/io.projectreactor.netty/reactor-netty5-http/reflect-config.json
+++ b/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/io.projectreactor.netty/reactor-netty5-http/reflect-config.json
@@ -62,6 +62,13 @@
 		"name": "reactor.netty5.http.client.MicrometerHttpClientMetricsHandler",
 		"queryAllPublicMethods": true
 	},
+	{
+		"condition": {
+			"typeReachable": "reactor.netty5.http.client.HttpClientConfig$ReactorNettyHttpClientUpgradeHandler"
+		},
+		"name": "reactor.netty5.http.client.HttpClientConfig$ReactorNettyHttpClientUpgradeHandler",
+		"queryAllPublicMethods": true
+	},
 	{
 		"condition": {
 			"typeReachable": "reactor.netty5.http.server.AbstractHttpServerMetricsHandler"