diff --git a/proxy/http/HttpSM.cc b/proxy/http/HttpSM.cc
index 66dad20a7f3..fa2d697f5f0 100644
--- a/proxy/http/HttpSM.cc
+++ b/proxy/http/HttpSM.cc
@@ -2262,6 +2262,10 @@ HttpSM::state_read_server_response_header(int event, void *data)
     if (allow_error == false) {
       SMDebug("http_seq", "Error parsing server response header");
       t_state.current.state = HttpTransact::PARSE_ERROR;
+      // set to 0, because else HttpTransact::retry_server_connection_not_open
+      // will assert on default value
+      // TODO: can we use a better value here?
+      t_state.cause_of_death_errno = 0;
 
       // If the server closed prematurely on us, use the
       //   server setup error routine since it will forward
diff --git a/proxy/http2/Http2ConnectionState.cc b/proxy/http2/Http2ConnectionState.cc
index 3e8eb316442..fe7b44c0194 100644
--- a/proxy/http2/Http2ConnectionState.cc
+++ b/proxy/http2/Http2ConnectionState.cc
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ rcv_data_frame(Http2ConnectionState &cstate, const Http2Frame &frame)
       return Http2Error(Http2ErrorClass::HTTP2_ERROR_CLASS_NONE);
     }
     if (!stream->payload_length_is_valid()) {
-      return Http2Error(Http2ErrorClass::HTTP2_ERROR_CLASS_CONNECTION, Http2ErrorCode::HTTP2_ERROR_PROTOCOL_ERROR,
+      return Http2Error(Http2ErrorClass::HTTP2_ERROR_CLASS_STREAM, Http2ErrorCode::HTTP2_ERROR_PROTOCOL_ERROR,
                         "recv data bad payload length");
     }
 
@@ -2007,11 +2007,19 @@ Http2ConnectionState::send_headers_frame(Http2Stream *stream)
     payload_length = header_blocks_size;
     flags |= HTTP2_FLAGS_HEADERS_END_HEADERS;
     if (stream->is_outbound_connection()) { // Will be sending a request_header
-      int method = send_hdr->method_get_wksidx();
-      if (!(method == HTTP_WKSIDX_POST || method == HTTP_WKSIDX_PUSH || method == HTTP_WKSIDX_PUT) &&
-          !send_hdr->presence(MIME_PRESENCE_TRANSFER_ENCODING) &&
-          ((send_hdr->presence(MIME_PRESENCE_CONTENT_LENGTH) && send_hdr->get_content_length() == 0) ||
-           !send_hdr->presence(MIME_PRESENCE_CONTENT_LENGTH))) {
+      int method                = send_hdr->method_get_wksidx();
+      bool content_method       = method == HTTP_WKSIDX_POST || method == HTTP_WKSIDX_PUSH || method == HTTP_WKSIDX_PUT;
+      bool is_transfer_encoded  = send_hdr->presence(MIME_PRESENCE_TRANSFER_ENCODING);
+      bool has_content_header   = send_hdr->presence(MIME_PRESENCE_CONTENT_LENGTH);
+      bool explicit_zero_length = has_content_header && send_hdr->get_content_length() == 0;
+
+      bool expect_content_stream =
+        is_transfer_encoded ||                                              // transfer encoded content length is unknown
+        (!content_method && has_content_header && !explicit_zero_length) || // non zero content with GET,etc
+        (content_method && !explicit_zero_length);                          // content-length >0 or empty with POST etc
+
+      // send END_STREAM if we don't expect any content
+      if (!expect_content_stream) {
         // TODO deal with the chunked encoding case
         Http2StreamDebug(session, stream->get_id(), "request END_STREAM");
         flags |= HTTP2_FLAGS_HEADERS_END_STREAM;
diff --git a/proxy/http2/Http2Stream.cc b/proxy/http2/Http2Stream.cc
index 7cc24276c1c..798c1472fe2 100644
--- a/proxy/http2/Http2Stream.cc
+++ b/proxy/http2/Http2Stream.cc
@@ -565,7 +565,8 @@ Http2Stream::initiating_close()
     if (_sm) {
       // Push out any last IO events
       // First look for active write or read
-      if (write_vio.cont && write_vio.nbytes > 0) {
+      if (write_vio.cont && write_vio.nbytes > 0 &&
+          (!is_outbound_connection() || get_state() == Http2StreamState::HTTP2_STREAM_STATE_OPEN)) {
         SCOPED_MUTEX_LOCK(lock, write_vio.mutex, this_ethread());
         if (write_vio.nbytes > 0 && write_vio.ndone == write_vio.nbytes) {
           write_event   = send_tracked_event(write_event, VC_EVENT_WRITE_COMPLETE, &write_vio);
@@ -581,7 +582,9 @@ Http2Stream::initiating_close()
       }
 
       if (!sent_io_event) {
-        if (write_vio.cont && write_vio.buffer.writer()) {
+        if (write_vio.cont && write_vio.buffer.writer() &&
+            (!is_outbound_connection() || get_state() == Http2StreamState::HTTP2_STREAM_STATE_OPEN ||
+             get_state() == Http2StreamState::HTTP2_STREAM_STATE_HALF_CLOSED_LOCAL)) {
           SCOPED_MUTEX_LOCK(lock, write_vio.mutex, this_ethread());
           Http2StreamDebug("handle write from destroy (event=%d)", VC_EVENT_EOS);
           write_event = send_tracked_event(write_event, VC_EVENT_EOS, &write_vio);