diff --git a/utils/netty/src/main/java/org/onlab/netty/MessageDecoder.java b/utils/netty/src/main/java/org/onlab/netty/MessageDecoder.java
index d4832e5..b494ce9 100644
--- a/utils/netty/src/main/java/org/onlab/netty/MessageDecoder.java
+++ b/utils/netty/src/main/java/org/onlab/netty/MessageDecoder.java
@@ -8,11 +8,16 @@
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
 /**
  * Decoder for inbound messages.
  */
 public class MessageDecoder extends ReplayingDecoder<DecoderState> {
 
+    private final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(getClass());
+
     private final NettyMessagingService messagingService;
 
     private static final KryoSerializer SERIALIZER = new KryoSerializer();
@@ -57,4 +62,10 @@
             checkState(false, "Must not be here");
         }
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public void exceptionCaught(ChannelHandlerContext context, Throwable cause) {
+        log.error("Exception inside channel handling pipeline.", cause);
+        context.close();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/utils/netty/src/main/java/org/onlab/netty/MessageEncoder.java b/utils/netty/src/main/java/org/onlab/netty/MessageEncoder.java
index 716efb9..c0a84df 100644
--- a/utils/netty/src/main/java/org/onlab/netty/MessageEncoder.java
+++ b/utils/netty/src/main/java/org/onlab/netty/MessageEncoder.java
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 package org.onlab.netty;
 
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
 import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandler.Sharable;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
@@ -11,6 +14,8 @@
 @Sharable
 public class MessageEncoder extends MessageToByteEncoder<InternalMessage> {
 
+    private final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(getClass());
+
     // onosiscool in ascii
     public static final byte[] PREAMBLE = "onosiscool".getBytes();
     public static final int HEADER_VERSION = 1;
@@ -47,4 +52,10 @@
         // write payload.
         out.writeBytes(payload);
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public void exceptionCaught(ChannelHandlerContext context, Throwable cause) {
+        log.error("Exception inside channel handling pipeline.", cause);
+        context.close();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/utils/netty/src/main/java/org/onlab/netty/NettyMessagingService.java b/utils/netty/src/main/java/org/onlab/netty/NettyMessagingService.java
index 48aeb30..5a51ad4 100644
--- a/utils/netty/src/main/java/org/onlab/netty/NettyMessagingService.java
+++ b/utils/netty/src/main/java/org/onlab/netty/NettyMessagingService.java
@@ -248,6 +248,7 @@
 
         @Override
         public void exceptionCaught(ChannelHandlerContext context, Throwable cause) {
+            log.error("Exception inside channel handling pipeline.", cause);
             context.close();
         }
     }