diff --git a/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/internal/AbstractServerStream.java b/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/internal/AbstractServerStream.java
index a71fd58d87f..887b29ba4a2 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/internal/AbstractServerStream.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/internal/AbstractServerStream.java
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ protected interface Sink {
      * Tears down the stream, typically in the event of a timeout. This method may be called
      * multiple times and from any thread.
      *
-     * <p>This is a clone of {@link ServerStream#cancel()}.
+     * <p>This is a clone of {@link ServerStream#cancel(Status)}.
      */
     void cancel(Status status);
   }
@@ -177,11 +177,13 @@ protected TransportState(int maxMessageSize) {
      * thread.
      */
     public final void setListener(ServerStreamListener listener) {
-      this.listener = Preconditions.checkNotNull(listener);
+      Preconditions.checkState(this.listener == null, "setListener should be called only once");
+      this.listener = Preconditions.checkNotNull(listener, "listener");
+    }
 
-      // Now that the stream has actually been initialized, call the listener's onReady callback if
-      // appropriate.
-      onStreamAllocated();
+    @Override
+    public final void onStreamAllocated() {
+      super.onStreamAllocated();
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/internal/AbstractStream2.java b/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/internal/AbstractStream2.java
index c346f998455..64f23f909fc 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/internal/AbstractStream2.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/internal/AbstractStream2.java
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ private boolean isReady() {
      * StreamListener#onReady()} handler if appropriate. This must be called from the transport
      * thread, since the listener may be called back directly.
      */
-    protected final void onStreamAllocated() {
+    protected void onStreamAllocated() {
       checkState(listener() != null);
       synchronized (onReadyLock) {
         checkState(!allocated, "Already allocated");
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/internal/AbstractServerStreamTest.java b/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/internal/AbstractServerStreamTest.java
index dd8d8f86cdd..a3865792945 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/internal/AbstractServerStreamTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/internal/AbstractServerStreamTest.java
@@ -107,7 +107,6 @@ public void completeWithoutClose() {
 
   @Test
   public void setListener_setOnlyOnce() {
-
     stream.transportState().setListener(new ServerStreamListenerBase());
     thrown.expect(IllegalStateException.class);
 
@@ -115,9 +114,20 @@ public void setListener_setOnlyOnce() {
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void setListener_readyCalled() {
+  public void listenerReady_onlyOnce() {
+    stream.transportState().setListener(new ServerStreamListenerBase());
+    stream.transportState().onStreamAllocated();
+    thrown.expect(IllegalStateException.class);
+
+    stream.transportState().onStreamAllocated();
+  }
+
+
+  @Test
+  public void listenerReady_readyCalled() {
     ServerStreamListener streamListener = mock(ServerStreamListener.class);
     stream.transportState().setListener(streamListener);
+    stream.transportState().onStreamAllocated();
 
     verify(streamListener).onReady();
   }
diff --git a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
index 8397277d5d6..6f4e6bec47f 100644
--- a/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
+++ b/netty/src/main/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerHandler.java
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@ private void onHeadersRead(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, int streamId, Http2Headers
 
       Metadata metadata = Utils.convertHeaders(headers);
       transportListener.streamCreated(stream, method, metadata);
+      state.onStreamAllocated();
       http2Stream.setProperty(streamKey, state);
     } catch (Http2Exception e) {
       throw e;
diff --git a/netty/src/test/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerStreamTest.java b/netty/src/test/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerStreamTest.java
index 2f30ae1e4aa..9744108e305 100644
--- a/netty/src/test/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerStreamTest.java
+++ b/netty/src/test/java/io/grpc/netty/NettyServerStreamTest.java
@@ -294,6 +294,7 @@ public Object answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
         new NettyServerStream.TransportState(handler, http2Stream, DEFAULT_MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE);
     NettyServerStream stream = new NettyServerStream(channel, state);
     stream.transportState().setListener(serverListener);
+    state.onStreamAllocated();
     verify(serverListener, atLeastOnce()).onReady();
     verifyNoMoreInteractions(serverListener);
     return stream;