diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/HttpChannelConnector.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/HttpChannelConnector.java
index acbf70950..472cff78c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/HttpChannelConnector.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/HttpChannelConnector.java
@@ -114,7 +114,6 @@ class HttpChannelConnector implements ConnectionProvider<HttpClientConnection> {
 
     Bootstrap bootstrap = new Bootstrap();
     bootstrap.group(context.nettyEventLoop());
-    bootstrap.channelFactory(client.getVertx().transport().channelFactory(domainSocket));
 
     applyConnectionOptions(domainSocket, bootstrap);
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/net/impl/AsyncResolveConnectHelper.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/net/impl/AsyncResolveConnectHelper.java
index c109c5ef4..bfc47d51c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/net/impl/AsyncResolveConnectHelper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/net/impl/AsyncResolveConnectHelper.java
@@ -35,7 +35,12 @@ public class AsyncResolveConnectHelper {
                                                                 SocketAddress socketAddress,
                                                                 ServerBootstrap bootstrap) {
     Promise<Channel> promise = vertx.getAcceptorEventLoopGroup().next().newPromise();
-    bootstrap.channelFactory(vertx.transport().serverChannelFactory(socketAddress.path() != null));
+    try {
+      bootstrap.channelFactory(vertx.transport().serverChannelFactory(socketAddress.path() != null));
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      promise.setFailure(e);
+      return promise;
+    }
     if (socketAddress.path() != null) {
       java.net.SocketAddress converted = vertx.transport().convert(socketAddress, true);
       ChannelFuture future = bootstrap.bind(converted);
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/net/impl/ChannelProvider.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/net/impl/ChannelProvider.java
index 70d681d09..5ce07a0ec 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/net/impl/ChannelProvider.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/net/impl/ChannelProvider.java
@@ -77,6 +77,12 @@ public final class ChannelProvider {
   }
 
   private void connect(SocketAddress remoteAddress, SocketAddress peerAddress, String serverName, boolean ssl, Promise<Channel> p) {
+    try {
+      bootstrap.channelFactory(context.owner().transport().channelFactory(remoteAddress.path() != null));
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      p.setFailure(e);
+      return;
+    }
     if (proxyOptions != null) {
       handleProxyConnect(remoteAddress, peerAddress, serverName, ssl, p);
     } else {
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/net/impl/NetClientImpl.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/net/impl/NetClientImpl.java
index 049a46eee..ac3ddddca 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/net/impl/NetClientImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/net/impl/NetClientImpl.java
@@ -197,7 +197,6 @@ public class NetClientImpl implements MetricsProvider, NetClient {
     sslHelper.validate(vertx);
     Bootstrap bootstrap = new Bootstrap();
     bootstrap.group(context.nettyEventLoop());
-    bootstrap.channelFactory(vertx.transport().channelFactory(remoteAddress.path() != null));
 
     applyConnectionOptions(remoteAddress.path() != null, bootstrap);