diff --git a/lib/_http_outgoing.js b/lib/_http_outgoing.js
index 6aad552e7a5279..c9b0a87b3dbd0c 100644
--- a/lib/_http_outgoing.js
+++ b/lib/_http_outgoing.js
@@ -571,7 +571,9 @@ OutgoingMessage.prototype.end = function(data, encoding, callback) {
   // There is the first message on the outgoing queue, and we've sent
   // everything to the socket.
   debug('outgoing message end.');
-  if (this.output.length === 0 && this.connection._httpMessage === this) {
+  if (this.output.length === 0 &&
+      this.connection &&
+      this.connection._httpMessage === this) {
     this._finish();
   }