diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/netty/netty-4.1/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/netty41/server/BlockingResponseHandler.java b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/netty/netty-4.1/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/netty41/server/BlockingResponseHandler.java
index fa73bcd2b99..8772b7d1403 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/netty/netty-4.1/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/netty41/server/BlockingResponseHandler.java
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/netty/netty-4.1/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/netty41/server/BlockingResponseHandler.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpResponseStatus;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpUtil;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpVersion;
+import io.netty.handler.codec.http.websocketx.CloseWebSocketFrame;
 import io.netty.util.ReferenceCountUtil;
 import java.nio.channels.ClosedChannelException;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -247,8 +248,13 @@ public void write(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Object msg, ChannelPromise promise)
         throws Exception {
       log.info("Ignored write of object {}", msg);
       ReferenceCountUtil.release(msg);
-      // Releasing the message does not complete the write; notify listeners that it failed.
-      promise.tryFailure(new ClosedChannelException());
+      // Fail close frames so Netty's close listener runs. Complete other discarded writes
+      // successfully to avoid re-entering framework error handling (e.g. in Vert.x).
+      if (msg instanceof CloseWebSocketFrame) {
+        promise.tryFailure(new ClosedChannelException());
+      } else {
+        promise.trySuccess();
+      }
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/netty/netty-4.1/src/test/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/netty41/server/BlockingResponseHandlerTest.java b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/netty/netty-4.1/src/test/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/netty41/server/BlockingResponseHandlerTest.java
index 5ccba3de956..a95264bccc0 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/netty/netty-4.1/src/test/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/netty41/server/BlockingResponseHandlerTest.java
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/netty/netty-4.1/src/test/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/netty41/server/BlockingResponseHandlerTest.java
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import static datadog.trace.instrumentation.netty41.server.BlockingResponseHandler.BEFORE_BLOCKING_HANDLER_NAME;
 import static datadog.trace.instrumentation.netty41.server.BlockingResponseHandler.HANDLER_NAME;
 import static io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpMethod.GET;
+import static io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpResponseStatus.OK;
 import static io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpVersion.HTTP_1_1;
 import static java.util.Collections.emptyMap;
 import static java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.SECONDS;
@@ -18,6 +19,8 @@
 import datadog.context.Context;
 import datadog.trace.instrumentation.netty41.ServerRequestContext;
 import datadog.trace.instrumentation.netty41.server.NettyHttpServerDecorator.NettyBlockResponseFunction;
+import io.netty.buffer.Unpooled;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelFuture;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelFutureListener;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelPromise;
@@ -25,16 +28,66 @@
 import io.netty.channel.embedded.EmbeddedChannel;
 import io.netty.channel.local.LocalChannel;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.DefaultFullHttpRequest;
+import io.netty.handler.codec.http.DefaultFullHttpResponse;
+import io.netty.handler.codec.http.DefaultLastHttpContent;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.FullHttpRequest;
+import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpContent;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.websocketx.CloseWebSocketFrame;
 import io.netty.util.concurrent.Future;
 import java.nio.channels.ClosedChannelException;
 import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+import java.util.stream.Stream;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.MethodSource;
 
 class BlockingResponseHandlerTest {
 
+  @ParameterizedTest
+  @MethodSource("discardedHttpWritesArguments")
+  void discardedHttpWritesDoNotFireExceptions(HttpContent message) {
+    EmbeddedChannel channel =
+        new EmbeddedChannel(BlockingResponseHandler.IgnoreAllWritesHandler.INSTANCE);
+    try {
+      channel.pipeline().writeAndFlush(message, channel.voidPromise());
+
+      channel.checkException();
+      assertEquals(0, message.refCnt());
+      assertNull(channel.readOutbound());
+      assertTrue(channel.isActive());
+    } finally {
+      channel.finishAndReleaseAll();
+    }
+  }
+
+  @ParameterizedTest
+  @MethodSource("discardedHttpWritesArguments")
+  void discardedHttpWritesCompletePromiseAndNotifyListener(HttpContent message) {
+    EmbeddedChannel channel =
+        new EmbeddedChannel(BlockingResponseHandler.IgnoreAllWritesHandler.INSTANCE);
+    AtomicReference<ChannelFuture> notifiedPromise = new AtomicReference<>();
+    try {
+      ChannelFuture future = channel.pipeline().writeAndFlush(message);
+      future.addListener((ChannelFutureListener) notifiedPromise::set);
+
+      assertTrue(future.isSuccess());
+      assertSame(future, notifiedPromise.get());
+      channel.checkException();
+      assertEquals(0, message.refCnt());
+      assertNull(channel.readOutbound());
+      assertTrue(channel.isActive());
+    } finally {
+      channel.finishAndReleaseAll();
+    }
+  }
+
+  static Stream<HttpContent> discardedHttpWritesArguments() {
+    return Stream.of(
+        new DefaultFullHttpResponse(HTTP_1_1, OK, Unpooled.buffer().writeByte(1)),
+        new DefaultLastHttpContent(Unpooled.buffer().writeByte(1)));
+  }
+
   @Test
   void discardedCloseFrameCompletesPromiseAndNotifiesCloseListener() {
     EmbeddedChannel channel =