diff --git a/modules/transport-netty4/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty4/Netty4TcpChannel.java b/modules/transport-netty4/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty4/Netty4TcpChannel.java
index d6132b26b0899..bee98362e0c1e 100644
--- a/modules/transport-netty4/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty4/Netty4TcpChannel.java
+++ b/modules/transport-netty4/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty4/Netty4TcpChannel.java
@@ -20,8 +20,10 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.transport.netty4;
 
 import io.netty.channel.Channel;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelException;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelOption;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelPromise;
+import java.io.IOException;
 import org.elasticsearch.ExceptionsHelper;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.bytes.BytesReference;
@@ -71,8 +73,14 @@ public void addCloseListener(ActionListener<Void> listener) {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public void setSoLinger(int value) {
-        channel.config().setOption(ChannelOption.SO_LINGER, value);
+    public void setSoLinger(int value) throws IOException {
+        if (channel.isOpen()) {
+            try {
+                channel.config().setOption(ChannelOption.SO_LINGER, value);
+            } catch (ChannelException e) {
+                throw new IOException(e);
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/modules/transport-netty4/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty4/Netty4SizeHeaderFrameDecoderTests.java b/modules/transport-netty4/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty4/Netty4SizeHeaderFrameDecoderTests.java
index 564cf61a39569..d8b3389f3bec3 100644
--- a/modules/transport-netty4/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty4/Netty4SizeHeaderFrameDecoderTests.java
+++ b/modules/transport-netty4/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty4/Netty4SizeHeaderFrameDecoderTests.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.transport.netty4;
 
+import java.net.SocketException;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.NamedWriteableRegistry;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.network.NetworkService;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
@@ -101,8 +102,13 @@ public void testThatNothingIsReturnedForOtherInvalidPackets() throws Exception {
             socket.getOutputStream().write("FOOBAR".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
             socket.getOutputStream().flush();
 
-            // end of stream
-            assertThat(socket.getInputStream().read(), is(-1));
+            try {
+                // end of stream
+                assertThat(socket.getInputStream().read(), is(-1));
+            } catch (SocketException e) {
+                // On some systems the RST from the other end leads to an exception instead of reading EOF.
+                assertThat(e.getMessage(), is("Connection reset"));
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpChannel.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpChannel.java
index bc5cc2c92f2cb..f25ae7b67a8ae 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpChannel.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpChannel.java
@@ -118,4 +118,18 @@ static void awaitConnected(DiscoveryNode discoveryNode, List<ActionFuture<Void>>
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Aborts a channel's connection with RST, then closes the channel.
+     *
+     * @param channel Channel to disconnect with RST and close
+     */
+    static void rstAndClose(TcpChannel channel) {
+        try {
+            channel.setSoLinger(0);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            // We ignore the exception as we are closing with RST because of an error.
+        }
+        CloseableChannel.closeChannel(channel);
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpTransport.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpTransport.java
index 27b4aa7293e18..73c1b6f343c04 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpTransport.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpTransport.java
@@ -765,7 +765,7 @@ protected final void doStop() {
     public void onException(TcpChannel channel, Exception e) {
         if (!lifecycle.started()) {
             // just close and ignore - we are already stopped and just need to make sure we release all resources
-            CloseableChannel.closeChannel(channel);
+            TcpChannel.rstAndClose(channel);
             return;
         }
 
@@ -815,7 +815,7 @@ protected void innerOnFailure(Exception e) {
         } else {
             logger.warn(() -> new ParameterizedMessage("exception caught on transport layer [{}], closing connection", channel), e);
             // close the channel, which will cause a node to be disconnected if relevant
-            CloseableChannel.closeChannel(channel);
+            TcpChannel.rstAndClose(channel);
         }
     }