diff --git a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyClientTransport.java b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyClientTransport.java
index 21a33960cc..390247fa78 100644
--- a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyClientTransport.java
+++ b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyClientTransport.java
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ import io.netty.channel.ChannelFuture;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelFutureListener;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelOption;
+import io.netty.channel.EventLoop;
 import io.netty.channel.EventLoopGroup;
 import io.netty.channel.socket.nio.NioSocketChannel;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http2.StreamBufferingEncoder.Http2ChannelClosedException;
@@ -165,14 +166,21 @@ class NettyClientTransport implements ConnectionClientTransport {
   public Runnable start(Listener transportListener) {
     lifecycleManager = new ClientTransportLifecycleManager(
         Preconditions.checkNotNull(transportListener, "listener"));
+    EventLoop eventLoop = group.next();
+    if (enableKeepAlive) {
+      keepAliveManager = new KeepAliveManager(
+          new ClientKeepAlivePinger(this), eventLoop, keepAliveDelayNanos, keepAliveTimeoutNanos,
+          false);
+    }
 
-    handler = newHandler();
+    handler = NettyClientHandler.newHandler(lifecycleManager, keepAliveManager, flowControlWindow,
+        maxHeaderListSize, Ticker.systemTicker());
     HandlerSettings.setAutoWindow(handler);
 
     negotiationHandler = negotiator.newHandler(handler);
 
     Bootstrap b = new Bootstrap();
-    b.group(group);
+    b.group(eventLoop);
     b.channel(channelType);
     if (NioSocketChannel.class.isAssignableFrom(channelType)) {
       b.option(SO_KEEPALIVE, true);
@@ -231,10 +239,7 @@ class NettyClientTransport implements ConnectionClientTransport {
       }
     });
 
-    if (enableKeepAlive) {
-      keepAliveManager = new KeepAliveManager(
-          new ClientKeepAlivePinger(this), channel.eventLoop(), keepAliveDelayNanos,
-          keepAliveTimeoutNanos, false);
+    if (keepAliveManager != null) {
       keepAliveManager.onTransportStarted();
     }
 
@@ -307,9 +312,4 @@ class NettyClientTransport implements ConnectionClientTransport {
     }
     return Utils.statusFromThrowable(t);
   }
-
-  private NettyClientHandler newHandler() {
-    return NettyClientHandler.newHandler(lifecycleManager, keepAliveManager, flowControlWindow,
-        maxHeaderListSize, Ticker.systemTicker());
-  }
 }