diff --git a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
index d7a9aec2e2f..41a630eac4c 100644
--- a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
+++ b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkArgument;
 import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
 import static io.grpc.internal.GrpcUtil.SERVER_KEEPALIVE_TIME_NANOS_DISABLED;
+import static io.grpc.netty.NettyServerBuilder.MAX_CONNECTION_AGE_GRACE_NANOS_INFINITE;
 import static io.grpc.netty.NettyServerBuilder.MAX_CONNECTION_AGE_NANOS_DISABLED;
 import static io.grpc.netty.NettyServerBuilder.MAX_CONNECTION_IDLE_NANOS_DISABLED;
 import static io.grpc.netty.Utils.CONTENT_TYPE_HEADER;
@@ -910,12 +911,9 @@ void secondGoAwayAndClose(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) {
 
       // gracefully shutdown with specified grace time
       long savedGracefulShutdownTimeMillis = gracefulShutdownTimeoutMillis();
-      long gracefulShutdownTimeoutMillis = savedGracefulShutdownTimeMillis;
-      if (graceTimeInNanos != null) {
-        gracefulShutdownTimeoutMillis = TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS.toMillis(graceTimeInNanos);
-      }
+      long overriddenGraceTime = graceTimeOverrideMillis(savedGracefulShutdownTimeMillis);
       try {
-        gracefulShutdownTimeoutMillis(gracefulShutdownTimeoutMillis);
+        gracefulShutdownTimeoutMillis(overriddenGraceTime);
         NettyServerHandler.super.close(ctx, ctx.newPromise());
       } catch (Exception e) {
         onError(ctx, /* outbound= */ true, e);
@@ -923,6 +921,17 @@ void secondGoAwayAndClose(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) {
         gracefulShutdownTimeoutMillis(savedGracefulShutdownTimeMillis);
       }
     }
+
+    private long graceTimeOverrideMillis(long originalMillis) {
+      if (graceTimeInNanos == null) {
+        return originalMillis;
+      }
+      if (graceTimeInNanos == MAX_CONNECTION_AGE_GRACE_NANOS_INFINITE) {
+        // netty treats -1 as "no timeout"
+        return -1L;
+      }
+      return TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS.toMillis(graceTimeInNanos);
+    }
   }
 
   // Use a frame writer so that we know when frames are through flow control and actually being