diff --git a/modules/transports/core/nhttp/src/main/java/org/apache/synapse/transport/passthru/TargetHandler.java b/modules/transports/core/nhttp/src/main/java/org/apache/synapse/transport/passthru/TargetHandler.java
index ca951dff35..859a43988b 100644
--- a/modules/transports/core/nhttp/src/main/java/org/apache/synapse/transport/passthru/TargetHandler.java
+++ b/modules/transports/core/nhttp/src/main/java/org/apache/synapse/transport/passthru/TargetHandler.java
@@ -770,7 +770,7 @@ public void closed(NHttpClientConnection conn) {
         metrics.disconnected();
 
         TargetContext.updateState(conn, ProtocolState.CLOSED);
-        targetConfiguration.getConnections().shutdownConnection(conn, isFault);
+        targetConfiguration.getConnections().closeConnection(conn, isFault);
 
     }
 
@@ -871,7 +871,7 @@ public void timeout(NHttpClientConnection conn) {
         }
 
         TargetContext.updateState(conn, ProtocolState.CLOSED);
-        targetConfiguration.getConnections().shutdownConnection(conn, true);
+        targetConfiguration.getConnections().closeConnection(conn, true);
     }
 
     private boolean isResponseHaveBodyExpected(
diff --git a/modules/transports/core/nhttp/src/main/java/org/apache/synapse/transport/passthru/connections/TargetConnections.java b/modules/transports/core/nhttp/src/main/java/org/apache/synapse/transport/passthru/connections/TargetConnections.java
index e69b569602..773b711874 100644
--- a/modules/transports/core/nhttp/src/main/java/org/apache/synapse/transport/passthru/connections/TargetConnections.java
+++ b/modules/transports/core/nhttp/src/main/java/org/apache/synapse/transport/passthru/connections/TargetConnections.java
@@ -177,6 +177,33 @@ public void shutdownConnection(NHttpClientConnection conn, boolean isError) {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Close a connection gracefully.
+     *
+     * @param conn the connection that needs to be closed.
+     * @param isError  whether an error is causing the close of the connection.
+     *                 When an error is causing a close of a connection we should
+     *                 not release the associated buffers into the pool.
+     */
+    public void closeConnection(NHttpClientConnection conn, boolean isError) {
+        HostConnections pool = (HostConnections) conn.getContext().getAttribute(
+                PassThroughConstants.CONNECTION_POOL);
+
+        TargetContext.get(conn).reset(isError);
+
+        if (pool != null) {
+            pool.forget(conn);
+        } else {
+            // we shouldn't get here
+            log.fatal("Connection without a pool. Something wrong. Need to fix.");
+        }
+
+        try {
+            conn.close();
+        } catch (IOException ignored) {
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Release an active connection to the pool
      *