diff --git a/modules/transport-netty4/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty4/Netty4Transport.java b/modules/transport-netty4/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty4/Netty4Transport.java
index c1b2ef10211..9dc3291693c 100644
--- a/modules/transport-netty4/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty4/Netty4Transport.java
+++ b/modules/transport-netty4/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty4/Netty4Transport.java
@@ -199,16 +199,7 @@ public class Netty4Transport extends TcpTransport<Channel> {
             bootstrap.channel(NioSocketChannel.class);
         }
 
-        bootstrap.handler(new ChannelInitializer<SocketChannel>() {
-
-            @Override
-            protected void initChannel(SocketChannel ch) throws Exception {
-                ch.pipeline().addLast("size", new Netty4SizeHeaderFrameDecoder());
-                // using a dot as a prefix means this cannot come from any settings parsed
-                ch.pipeline().addLast("dispatcher", new Netty4MessageChannelHandler(Netty4Transport.this, ".client"));
-            }
-
-        });
+        bootstrap.handler(getClientChannelInitializer());
 
         bootstrap.option(ChannelOption.CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MILLIS, Math.toIntExact(connectTimeout.millis()));
         bootstrap.option(ChannelOption.TCP_NODELAY, TCP_NO_DELAY.get(settings));
@@ -292,14 +283,7 @@ public class Netty4Transport extends TcpTransport<Channel> {
             serverBootstrap.channel(NioServerSocketChannel.class);
         }
 
-        serverBootstrap.childHandler(new ChannelInitializer<SocketChannel>() {
-            @Override
-            protected void initChannel(SocketChannel ch) throws Exception {
-                ch.pipeline().addLast("open_channels", Netty4Transport.this.serverOpenChannels);
-                ch.pipeline().addLast("size", new Netty4SizeHeaderFrameDecoder());
-                ch.pipeline().addLast("dispatcher", new Netty4MessageChannelHandler(Netty4Transport.this, name));
-            }
-        });
+        serverBootstrap.childHandler(getServerChannelInitializer(name, settings));
 
         serverBootstrap.childOption(ChannelOption.TCP_NODELAY, TCP_NO_DELAY.get(settings));
         serverBootstrap.childOption(ChannelOption.SO_KEEPALIVE, TCP_KEEP_ALIVE.get(settings));
@@ -326,6 +310,14 @@ public class Netty4Transport extends TcpTransport<Channel> {
         serverBootstraps.put(name, serverBootstrap);
     }
 
+    protected ChannelInitializer<SocketChannel> getServerChannelInitializer(String name, Settings settings) {
+        return new ServerChannelInitializer(name, settings);
+    }
+
+    protected ChannelInitializer<SocketChannel> getClientChannelInitializer() {
+        return new ClientChannelInitializer();
+    }
+
     protected final void exceptionCaught(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Throwable cause) throws Exception {
         final Throwable unwrapped = ExceptionsHelper.unwrap(cause, ElasticsearchException.class);
         final Throwable t = unwrapped != null ? unwrapped : cause;
@@ -348,7 +340,9 @@ public class Netty4Transport extends TcpTransport<Channel> {
         Channel[] channels = new Channel[1];
         channels[0] = connect.channel();
         channels[0].closeFuture().addListener(new ChannelCloseListener(node));
-        return new NodeChannels(channels, channels, channels, channels, channels);
+        NodeChannels nodeChannels = new NodeChannels(channels, channels, channels, channels, channels);
+        onAfterChannelsConnected(nodeChannels);
+        return nodeChannels;
     }
 
     protected NodeChannels connectToChannels(DiscoveryNode node) {
@@ -409,6 +403,7 @@ public class Netty4Transport extends TcpTransport<Channel> {
                 }
                 throw e;
             }
+            onAfterChannelsConnected(nodeChannels);
             success = true;
         } finally {
             if (success == false) {
@@ -422,6 +417,9 @@ public class Netty4Transport extends TcpTransport<Channel> {
         return nodeChannels;
     }
 
+    protected void onAfterChannelsConnected(NodeChannels nodeChannels) {
+
+    }
     private class ChannelCloseListener implements ChannelFutureListener {
 
         private final DiscoveryNode node;
@@ -503,4 +501,32 @@ public class Netty4Transport extends TcpTransport<Channel> {
         });
     }
 
+    protected class ClientChannelInitializer extends ChannelInitializer<SocketChannel> {
+
+        @Override
+        protected void initChannel(SocketChannel ch) throws Exception {
+            ch.pipeline().addLast("size", new Netty4SizeHeaderFrameDecoder());
+            // using a dot as a prefix means this cannot come from any settings parsed
+            ch.pipeline().addLast("dispatcher", new Netty4MessageChannelHandler(Netty4Transport.this, ".client"));
+        }
+
+    }
+
+    protected class ServerChannelInitializer extends ChannelInitializer<SocketChannel> {
+
+        protected final String name;
+        protected final Settings settings;
+
+        protected ServerChannelInitializer(String name, Settings settings) {
+            this.name = name;
+            this.settings = settings;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected void initChannel(SocketChannel ch) throws Exception {
+            ch.pipeline().addLast("open_channels", Netty4Transport.this.serverOpenChannels);
+            ch.pipeline().addLast("size", new Netty4SizeHeaderFrameDecoder());
+            ch.pipeline().addLast("dispatcher", new Netty4MessageChannelHandler(Netty4Transport.this, name));
+        }
+    }
 }