diff --git a/connection.go b/connection.go
index d3a5e137..4d732eb3 100644
--- a/connection.go
+++ b/connection.go
@@ -882,6 +882,13 @@ func (c *Connection) checkExchanges() {
 	}
 
 	if c.readState() == connectionInboundClosed {
+		// Safety check -- this should never happen since we already did the check
+		// when transitioning to connectionInboundClosed.
+		if !c.relay.canClose() {
+			c.relay.logger.Error("Relay can't close even though state is InboundClosed.")
+			return
+		}
+
 		if c.outbound.count() == 0 && moveState(connectionInboundClosed, connectionClosed) {
 			updated = connectionClosed
 		}
diff --git a/relay.go b/relay.go
index edf5cd6a..b788308f 100644
--- a/relay.go
+++ b/relay.go
@@ -214,11 +214,23 @@ func (r *Relayer) Receive(f *Frame, fType frameType) {
 	}
 }
 
-func (r *Relayer) handleCallReq(f lazyCallReq) error {
+func (r *Relayer) canHandleNewCall() bool {
+	var canHandle bool
+	r.conn.withStateRLock(func() error {
+		canHandle = r.conn.state == connectionActive
+		if canHandle {
+			r.pending.Inc()
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+	return canHandle
+}
+
+func (r *Relayer) getDestination(f lazyCallReq) (*Connection, bool, error) {
 	if _, ok := r.outbound.Get(f.Header.ID); ok {
 		r.logger.WithFields(LogField{"id", f.Header.ID}).Warn("received duplicate callReq")
 		// TODO: this is a protocol error, kill the connection.
-		return errors.New("callReq with already active ID")
+		return nil, false, errors.New("callReq with already active ID")
 	}
 
 	// Get the destination
@@ -226,7 +238,7 @@ func (r *Relayer) handleCallReq(f lazyCallReq) error {
 	if hostPort == "" {
 		// TODO: What is the span in the error frame actually used for, and do we need it?
 		r.conn.SendSystemError(f.Header.ID, nil, errUnknownGroup(f.Service()))
-		return nil
+		return nil, false, nil
 	}
 	peer := r.peers.GetOrAdd(hostPort)
 
@@ -239,10 +251,32 @@ func (r *Relayer) handleCallReq(f lazyCallReq) error {
 		).Warn("Failed to connect to relay host.")
 		// TODO: Same as above, do we need span here?
 		r.conn.SendSystemError(f.Header.ID, nil, NewWrappedSystemError(ErrCodeNetwork, err))
-		return nil
+		return nil, false, nil
+	}
+
+	return remoteConn, true, nil
+}
+
+func (r *Relayer) handleCallReq(f lazyCallReq) error {
+	if !r.canHandleNewCall() {
+		return ErrChannelClosed
+	}
+
+	// Get a remote connection and check whether it can handle this call.
+	remoteConn, ok, err := r.getDestination(f)
+	if err == nil && ok {
+		if !remoteConn.relay.canHandleNewCall() {
+			err = NewSystemError(ErrCodeNetwork, "selected closed connection, retry")
+		}
+	}
+	if err != nil || !ok {
+		// Failed to get a remote connection, or the connection is not in the right
+		// state to handle this call. Since we already incremented pending on
+		// the current relay, we need to decrement it.
+		r.pending.Dec()
+		return err
 	}
 
-	// TODO: Is there a race for adding the same ID twice?
 	destinationID := remoteConn.NextMessageID()
 	ttl := f.TTL()
 	remoteConn.relay.addRelayItem(false /* isOriginator */, destinationID, f.Header.ID, r, ttl)
@@ -290,7 +324,6 @@ func (r *Relayer) addRelayItem(isOriginator bool, id, remapID uint32, destinatio
 		remapID:     remapID,
 		destination: destination,
 	}
-	r.pending.Inc()
 
 	items := r.inbound
 	if isOriginator {
@@ -310,6 +343,7 @@ func (r *Relayer) timeoutRelayItem(items *relayItems, id uint32, isOriginator bo
 		r.conn.SendSystemError(id, nil, ErrTimeout)
 	}
 	r.pending.Dec()
+
 	r.conn.checkExchanges()
 }
 
diff --git a/relay_test.go b/relay_test.go
index 3db76e0f..5fba6465 100644
--- a/relay_test.go
+++ b/relay_test.go
@@ -6,11 +6,14 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	. "github.com/uber/tchannel-go"
+
+	"github.com/uber/tchannel-go/atomic"
 	"github.com/uber/tchannel-go/raw"
 	"github.com/uber/tchannel-go/testutils"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
 type relayTest struct {
@@ -160,3 +163,52 @@ func TestErrorFrameEndsRelay(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Equal(t, ErrCodeBadRequest, se.Code(), "Expected BadRequest error")
 	})
 }
+
+// Trigger a race between receiving a new call and a connection closing
+// by closing the relay while a lot of background calls are being made.
+func TestRaceCloseWithNewCall(t *testing.T) {
+	opts := serviceNameOpts("s1").SetRelayOnly().DisableLogVerification()
+	testutils.WithTestServer(t, opts, func(ts *testutils.TestServer) {
+		s1 := ts.Server()
+		s2 := ts.NewServer(serviceNameOpts("s2").DisableLogVerification())
+		testutils.RegisterEcho(s1, nil)
+
+		// signal to start closing the relay.
+		var (
+			closeRelay  sync.WaitGroup
+			stopCalling atomic.Int32
+			callers     sync.WaitGroup
+		)
+
+		for i := 0; i < 20; i++ {
+			callers.Add(1)
+			closeRelay.Add(1)
+
+			go func() {
+				defer callers.Done()
+
+				calls := 0
+				for stopCalling.Load() == 0 {
+					testutils.CallEcho(s2, ts.HostPort(), "s1", nil)
+					calls++
+					if calls == 10 {
+						closeRelay.Done()
+					}
+				}
+			}()
+		}
+
+		closeRelay.Wait()
+
+		// Close the relay, wait for it to close.
+		ts.Relay().Close()
+		closed := testutils.WaitFor(time.Second, func() bool {
+			return ts.Relay().State() == ChannelClosed
+		})
+		assert.True(t, closed, "Relay did not close within timeout")
+
+		// Now stop all calls, and wait for the calling goroutine to end.
+		stopCalling.Inc()
+		callers.Wait()
+	})
+}