diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/Http1xClientConnection.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/Http1xClientConnection.java
index 00d47003d..4ce84dd34 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/Http1xClientConnection.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/Http1xClientConnection.java
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ class Http1xClientConnection extends Http1xConnectionBase implements HttpClientC
       return conn.context;
     }
 
-    public void writeHead(HttpMethod method, String rawMethod, String uri, MultiMap headers, String hostHeader, boolean chunked, ByteBuf buf, boolean end) {
+    public void writeHead(HttpMethod method, String rawMethod, String uri, MultiMap headers, String hostHeader, boolean chunked, ByteBuf buf, boolean end, StreamPriority streamPriority) {
       HttpRequest request = createRequest(method, rawMethod, uri, headers);
       prepareRequestHeaders(request, hostHeader, chunked);
       sendRequest(request, buf, end);
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/Http2ClientConnection.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/Http2ClientConnection.java
index 8d641ca28..e3eba5380 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/Http2ClientConnection.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/Http2ClientConnection.java
@@ -135,8 +135,9 @@ class Http2ClientConnection extends Http2ConnectionBase implements HttpClientCon
 
   @Override
   public synchronized void onHeadersRead(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, int streamId, Http2Headers headers, int streamDependency, short weight, boolean exclusive, int padding, boolean endOfStream) throws Http2Exception {
-    Http2ClientStream stream = (Http2ClientStream) streams.get(streamId);
-    stream.setStreamPriority(new StreamPriority(streamDependency, weight, exclusive));
+    VertxHttp2Stream stream = streams.get(streamId);
+    if(stream != null)
+        stream.setStreamPriority(new StreamPriority(streamDependency, weight, exclusive));
     onHeadersRead(ctx, streamId, headers, padding, endOfStream);
   }
 
@@ -332,7 +333,7 @@ class Http2ClientConnection extends Http2ConnectionBase implements HttpClientCon
     }
 
     @Override
-    public void writeHead(HttpMethod method, String rawMethod, String uri, MultiMap headers, String hostHeader, boolean chunked, ByteBuf content, boolean end) {
+    public void writeHead(HttpMethod method, String rawMethod, String uri, MultiMap headers, String hostHeader, boolean chunked, ByteBuf content, boolean end, StreamPriority streamPriority) {
       Http2Headers h = new DefaultHttp2Headers();
       h.method(method != HttpMethod.OTHER ? method.name() : rawMethod);
       if (method == HttpMethod.CONNECT) {
@@ -358,6 +359,7 @@ class Http2ClientConnection extends Http2ConnectionBase implements HttpClientCon
       if (conn.metrics != null) {
         request.metric(conn.metrics.requestBegin(conn.queueMetric, conn.metric(), conn.localAddress(), conn.remoteAddress(), request));
       }
+      setStreamPriority(streamPriority);
       writeHeaders(h, end && content == null);
       if (content != null) {
         writeBuffer(content, end);
@@ -378,6 +380,14 @@ class Http2ClientConnection extends Http2ConnectionBase implements HttpClientCon
         handlerContext.flush();
       }
     }
+    
+    
+
+    @Override
+    public void updateStreamPriority(StreamPriority streamPriority) {
+        setStreamPriority(streamPriority);
+        writePriorityFrame();
+    }
 
     @Override
     public void writeFrame(int type, int flags, ByteBuf payload) {
@@ -447,7 +457,7 @@ class Http2ClientConnection extends Http2ConnectionBase implements HttpClientCon
       return conn.toNetSocket(this);
     }
   }
-
+  
   public static VertxHttp2ConnectionHandler<Http2ClientConnection> createHttp2ConnectionHandler(
     HttpClientImpl client,
     Object queueMetric,
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/Http2UpgradedClientConnection.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/Http2UpgradedClientConnection.java
index fe9986d75..f69320010 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/Http2UpgradedClientConnection.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/Http2UpgradedClientConnection.java
@@ -102,7 +102,8 @@ public class Http2UpgradedClientConnection implements HttpClientConnection {
                           String hostHeader,
                           boolean chunked,
                           ByteBuf buf,
-                          boolean end) {
+                          boolean end,
+                          StreamPriority streamPriority) {
       ChannelPipeline pipeline = conn.channel().pipeline();
       HttpClientCodec httpCodec = pipeline.get(HttpClientCodec.class);
       class UpgradeRequestHandler extends ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter {
@@ -161,7 +162,7 @@ public class Http2UpgradedClientConnection implements HttpClientConnection {
       HttpClientUpgradeHandler upgradeHandler = new HttpClientUpgradeHandler(httpCodec, upgradeCodec, 65536);
       pipeline.addAfter("codec", null, new UpgradeRequestHandler());
       pipeline.addAfter("codec", null, upgradeHandler);
-      stream.writeHead(method, rawMethod, uri, headers, hostHeader, chunked, buf, end);
+      stream.writeHead(method, rawMethod, uri, headers, hostHeader, chunked, buf, end, streamPriority);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/HttpClientRequestImpl.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/HttpClientRequestImpl.java
index 96ce20475..40d2ed529 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/HttpClientRequestImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/HttpClientRequestImpl.java
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ public class HttpClientRequestImpl extends HttpClientRequestBase implements Http
   private HttpClientStream stream;
   private boolean connecting;
   
-  private StreamPriority streamPriority; // This filed is used to hold the steamPriority if it is set before the stream is created
+  private StreamPriority streamPriority = StreamPriority.DEFAULT; // This filed is used to hold the steamPriority if it is set before the stream is created
 
   // completed => drainHandler = null
 
@@ -513,10 +513,6 @@ public class HttpClientRequestImpl extends HttpClientRequestBase implements Http
   private void connected(Handler<HttpVersion> headersHandler, HttpClientStream stream) {
     synchronized (this) {
       this.stream = stream;
-      if(streamPriority != null) {
-          stream.setStreamPriority(streamPriority);
-      }
-          
       stream.beginRequest(this);
 
       // If anything was written or the request ended before we got the connection, then
@@ -532,20 +528,20 @@ public class HttpClientRequestImpl extends HttpClientRequestBase implements Http
 
         if (completed) {
           // we also need to write the head so optimize this and write all out in once
-          stream.writeHead(method, rawMethod, uri, headers, hostHeader(), chunked, pending, true);
+          stream.writeHead(method, rawMethod, uri, headers, hostHeader(), chunked, pending, true, streamPriority);
           stream.reportBytesWritten(written);
           stream.endRequest();
         } else {
-          stream.writeHead(method, rawMethod, uri, headers, hostHeader(), chunked, pending, false);
+          stream.writeHead(method, rawMethod, uri, headers, hostHeader(), chunked, pending, false, streamPriority);
         }
       } else {
         if (completed) {
           // we also need to write the head so optimize this and write all out in once
-          stream.writeHead(method, rawMethod, uri, headers, hostHeader(), chunked, null, true);
+          stream.writeHead(method, rawMethod, uri, headers, hostHeader(), chunked, null, true, streamPriority);
           stream.reportBytesWritten(written);
           stream.endRequest();
         } else {
-          stream.writeHead(method, rawMethod, uri, headers, hostHeader(), chunked, null, false);
+          stream.writeHead(method, rawMethod, uri, headers, hostHeader(), chunked, null, false, streamPriority);
         }
       }
       this.connecting = false;
@@ -686,8 +682,7 @@ public class HttpClientRequestImpl extends HttpClientRequestBase implements Http
       if(!streamPriority.equals(getStreamPriority())) {
         this.streamPriority = streamPriority;
         if(stream != null) {
-          stream.setStreamPriority(streamPriority);
-          stream.writePriorityFrame();
+          stream.updateStreamPriority(streamPriority);
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/HttpClientStream.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/HttpClientStream.java
index f5a70dd99..b472123b3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/HttpClientStream.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/http/impl/HttpClientStream.java
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ interface HttpClientStream {
   HttpConnection connection();
   Context getContext();
 
-  void writeHead(HttpMethod method, String rawMethod, String uri, MultiMap headers, String hostHeader, boolean chunked, ByteBuf buf, boolean end);
+  void writeHead(HttpMethod method, String rawMethod, String uri, MultiMap headers, String hostHeader, boolean chunked, ByteBuf buf, boolean end, StreamPriority streamPriority);
   void writeBuffer(ByteBuf buf, boolean end);
   void writeFrame(int type, int flags, ByteBuf payload);
   default void writePriorityFrame() {}
@@ -62,5 +62,5 @@ interface HttpClientStream {
   default StreamPriority getStreamPriority() {
       return null;
   }
-  default void setStreamPriority(StreamPriority streamPriority) { }
+  default void updateStreamPriority(StreamPriority streamPriority) { }
 }
\ No newline at end of file