diff --git a/binder/src/main/java/io/grpc/binder/internal/BinderClientTransport.java b/binder/src/main/java/io/grpc/binder/internal/BinderClientTransport.java
index c6aa195544e..54d65936fab 100644
--- a/binder/src/main/java/io/grpc/binder/internal/BinderClientTransport.java
+++ b/binder/src/main/java/io/grpc/binder/internal/BinderClientTransport.java
@@ -148,31 +148,33 @@ public synchronized void onUnbound(Status reason) {
   @Override
   public synchronized Runnable start(Listener clientTransportListener) {
     this.clientTransportListener = checkNotNull(clientTransportListener);
-    return () -> {
-      synchronized (BinderClientTransport.this) {
-        if (inState(TransportState.NOT_STARTED)) {
-          setState(TransportState.SETUP);
-          try {
-            if (preAuthorizeServer) {
-              preAuthorize(serviceBinding.resolve());
-            } else {
-              serviceBinding.bind();
-            }
-          } catch (StatusException e) {
-            shutdownInternal(e.getStatus(), true);
-            return;
-          }
-          if (readyTimeoutMillis >= 0) {
-            readyTimeoutFuture =
-                getScheduledExecutorService()
-                    .schedule(
-                        BinderClientTransport.this::onReadyTimeout,
-                        readyTimeoutMillis,
-                        MILLISECONDS);
-          }
-        }
+    return this::postStartRunnable;
+  }
+
+  private synchronized void postStartRunnable() {
+    if (!inState(TransportState.NOT_STARTED)) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    setState(TransportState.SETUP);
+
+    try {
+      if (preAuthorizeServer) {
+        preAuthorize(serviceBinding.resolve());
+      } else {
+        serviceBinding.bind();
       }
-    };
+    } catch (StatusException e) {
+      shutdownInternal(e.getStatus(), true);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (readyTimeoutMillis >= 0) {
+      readyTimeoutFuture =
+          getScheduledExecutorService()
+              .schedule(
+                  BinderClientTransport.this::onReadyTimeout, readyTimeoutMillis, MILLISECONDS);
+    }
   }
 
   @GuardedBy("this")
@@ -204,13 +206,16 @@ public void onFailure(Throwable t) {
   }
 
   private synchronized void handlePreAuthResult(Status authorization) {
-    if (inState(TransportState.SETUP)) {
-      if (!authorization.isOk()) {
-        shutdownInternal(authorization, true);
-      } else {
-        serviceBinding.bind();
-      }
+    if (!inState(TransportState.SETUP)) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (!authorization.isOk()) {
+      shutdownInternal(authorization, true);
+      return;
     }
+
+    serviceBinding.bind();
   }
 
   private synchronized void onReadyTimeout() {
@@ -252,17 +257,17 @@ public synchronized ClientStream newStream(
       Status failure = Status.INTERNAL.withDescription("Clashing call IDs");
       shutdownInternal(failure, true);
       return newFailingClientStream(failure, attributes, headers, tracers);
+    }
+
+    if (inbound.countsForInUse() && numInUseStreams.getAndIncrement() == 0) {
+      clientTransportListener.transportInUse(true);
+    }
+    Outbound.ClientOutbound outbound =
+        new Outbound.ClientOutbound(this, callId, method, headers, statsTraceContext);
+    if (method.getType().clientSendsOneMessage()) {
+      return new SingleMessageClientStream(inbound, outbound, attributes);
     } else {
-      if (inbound.countsForInUse() && numInUseStreams.getAndIncrement() == 0) {
-        clientTransportListener.transportInUse(true);
-      }
-      Outbound.ClientOutbound outbound =
-          new Outbound.ClientOutbound(this, callId, method, headers, statsTraceContext);
-      if (method.getType().clientSendsOneMessage()) {
-        return new SingleMessageClientStream(inbound, outbound, attributes);
-      } else {
-        return new MultiMessageClientStream(inbound, outbound, attributes);
-      }
+      return new MultiMessageClientStream(inbound, outbound, attributes);
     }
   }
 
@@ -314,39 +319,46 @@ void notifyTerminated() {
   @Override
   @GuardedBy("this")
   protected void handleSetupTransport(Parcel parcel) {
-    int remoteUid = Binder.getCallingUid();
-    if (inState(TransportState.SETUP)) {
-      int version = parcel.readInt();
-      IBinder binder = parcel.readStrongBinder();
-      if (version != WIRE_FORMAT_VERSION) {
-        shutdownInternal(Status.UNAVAILABLE.withDescription("Wire format version mismatch"), true);
-      } else if (binder == null) {
-        shutdownInternal(
-            Status.UNAVAILABLE.withDescription("Malformed SETUP_TRANSPORT data"), true);
-      } else if (!setOutgoingBinder(OneWayBinderProxy.wrap(binder, offloadExecutor))) {
-        shutdownInternal(
-            Status.UNAVAILABLE.withDescription("Failed to observe outgoing binder"), true);
-      } else {
-        restrictIncomingBinderToCallsFrom(remoteUid);
-        attributes = setSecurityAttrs(attributes, remoteUid);
-        ListenableFuture<Status> authResultFuture =
-            register(checkServerAuthorizationAsync(remoteUid));
-        Futures.addCallback(
-            authResultFuture,
-            new FutureCallback<Status>() {
-              @Override
-              public void onSuccess(Status result) {
-                handleAuthResult(result);
-              }
-
-              @Override
-              public void onFailure(Throwable t) {
-                handleAuthResult(t);
-              }
-            },
-            offloadExecutor);
-      }
+    if (!inState(TransportState.SETUP)) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    int version = parcel.readInt();
+    if (version != WIRE_FORMAT_VERSION) {
+      shutdownInternal(Status.UNAVAILABLE.withDescription("Wire format version mismatch"), true);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    IBinder binder = parcel.readStrongBinder();
+    if (binder == null) {
+      shutdownInternal(Status.UNAVAILABLE.withDescription("Malformed SETUP_TRANSPORT data"), true);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (!setOutgoingBinder(OneWayBinderProxy.wrap(binder, offloadExecutor))) {
+      shutdownInternal(
+          Status.UNAVAILABLE.withDescription("Failed to observe outgoing binder"), true);
+      return;
     }
+
+    int remoteUid = Binder.getCallingUid();
+    restrictIncomingBinderToCallsFrom(remoteUid);
+    attributes = setSecurityAttrs(attributes, remoteUid);
+    ListenableFuture<Status> authResultFuture = register(checkServerAuthorizationAsync(remoteUid));
+    Futures.addCallback(
+        authResultFuture,
+        new FutureCallback<Status>() {
+          @Override
+          public void onSuccess(Status result) {
+            handleAuthResult(result);
+          }
+
+          @Override
+          public void onFailure(Throwable t) {
+            handleAuthResult(t);
+          }
+        },
+        offloadExecutor);
   }
 
   private ListenableFuture<Status> checkServerAuthorizationAsync(int remoteUid) {
@@ -356,18 +368,21 @@ private ListenableFuture<Status> checkServerAuthorizationAsync(int remoteUid) {
   }
 
   private synchronized void handleAuthResult(Status authorization) {
-    if (inState(TransportState.SETUP)) {
-      if (!authorization.isOk()) {
-        shutdownInternal(authorization, true);
-      } else {
-        setState(TransportState.READY);
-        attributes = clientTransportListener.filterTransport(attributes);
-        clientTransportListener.transportReady();
-        if (readyTimeoutFuture != null) {
-          readyTimeoutFuture.cancel(false);
-          readyTimeoutFuture = null;
-        }
-      }
+    if (!inState(TransportState.SETUP)) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (!authorization.isOk()) {
+      shutdownInternal(authorization, true);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    setState(TransportState.READY);
+    attributes = clientTransportListener.filterTransport(attributes);
+    clientTransportListener.transportReady();
+    if (readyTimeoutFuture != null) {
+      readyTimeoutFuture.cancel(false);
+      readyTimeoutFuture = null;
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/binder/src/main/java/io/grpc/binder/internal/BinderServerTransport.java b/binder/src/main/java/io/grpc/binder/internal/BinderServerTransport.java
index cbe64149e15..44909f9c0bc 100644
--- a/binder/src/main/java/io/grpc/binder/internal/BinderServerTransport.java
+++ b/binder/src/main/java/io/grpc/binder/internal/BinderServerTransport.java
@@ -69,15 +69,22 @@ public BinderServerTransport(
    */
   public synchronized void start(ServerTransportListener serverTransportListener) {
     this.listenerPromise.set(serverTransportListener);
-    if (!isShutdown()) {
-      sendSetupTransaction();
-      // Check we're not shutdown again, since a failure inside sendSetupTransaction (or a callback
-      // it triggers), could have shut us down.
-      if (!isShutdown()) {
-        setState(TransportState.READY);
-        attributes = serverTransportListener.transportReady(attributes);
-      }
+    if (isShutdown()) {
+      // It's unlikely, but we could be shutdown externally between construction and start(). One
+      // possible cause is an extremely short handshake timeout.
+      return;
     }
+
+    sendSetupTransaction();
+
+    // Check we're not shutdown again, since a failure inside sendSetupTransaction (or a callback
+    // it triggers), could have shut us down.
+    if (isShutdown()) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    setState(TransportState.READY);
+    attributes = serverTransportListener.transportReady(attributes);
   }
 
   StatsTraceContext createStatsTraceContext(String methodName, Metadata headers) {
@@ -92,10 +99,10 @@ StatsTraceContext createStatsTraceContext(String methodName, Metadata headers) {
   synchronized Status startStream(ServerStream stream, String methodName, Metadata headers) {
     if (isShutdown()) {
       return Status.UNAVAILABLE.withDescription("transport is shutdown");
-    } else {
-      listenerPromise.get().streamCreated(stream, methodName, headers);
-      return Status.OK;
     }
+
+    listenerPromise.get().streamCreated(stream, methodName, headers);
+    return Status.OK;
   }
 
   @Override