diff --git a/src/core/ext/transport/chttp2/transport/chttp2_transport.c b/src/core/ext/transport/chttp2/transport/chttp2_transport.c
index 1abc49f435edd39361003a30816b016686ed98f8..b0da0578f5eabcda5a82b00ae56e39a4909564a9 100644
--- a/src/core/ext/transport/chttp2/transport/chttp2_transport.c
+++ b/src/core/ext/transport/chttp2/transport/chttp2_transport.c
@@ -1504,17 +1504,15 @@ static void close_from_api(grpc_exec_ctx *exec_ctx,
       gpr_slice_buffer_add(&transport_global->qbuf,
                            gpr_slice_ref(*optional_message));
     }
-
     gpr_slice_buffer_add(
         &transport_global->qbuf,
         grpc_chttp2_rst_stream_create(stream_global->id, GRPC_CHTTP2_NO_ERROR,
                                       &stream_global->stats.outgoing));
-
-    if (optional_message) {
-      gpr_slice_ref(*optional_message);
-    }
   }
 
+  if (optional_message) {
+    gpr_slice_ref(*optional_message);
+  }
   grpc_chttp2_fake_status(exec_ctx, transport_global, stream_global, status,
                           optional_message);
   grpc_chttp2_mark_stream_closed(exec_ctx, transport_global, stream_global, 1,
diff --git a/test/cpp/end2end/end2end_test.cc b/test/cpp/end2end/end2end_test.cc
index f52aa52f39ffb261e319885f493fbfb15ce5073a..4602145f54b01a4aebbbe5fd9b381a593b2ea412 100644
--- a/test/cpp/end2end/end2end_test.cc
+++ b/test/cpp/end2end/end2end_test.cc
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ bool CheckIsLocalhost(const grpc::string& addr) {
          addr.substr(0, kIpv6.size()) == kIpv6;
 }
 
+const char kTestCredsPluginErrorMsg[] = "Could not find plugin metadata.";
+
 class TestMetadataCredentialsPlugin : public MetadataCredentialsPlugin {
  public:
   static const char kMetadataKey[];
@@ -99,7 +101,7 @@ class TestMetadataCredentialsPlugin : public MetadataCredentialsPlugin {
       metadata->insert(std::make_pair(kMetadataKey, metadata_value_));
       return Status::OK;
     } else {
-      return Status(StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "Could not find plugin metadata.");
+      return Status(StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, kTestCredsPluginErrorMsg);
     }
   }
 
@@ -1318,6 +1320,7 @@ TEST_P(SecureEnd2endTest, NonBlockingAuthMetadataPluginFailure) {
   Status s = stub_->Echo(&context, request, &response);
   EXPECT_FALSE(s.ok());
   EXPECT_EQ(s.error_code(), StatusCode::UNAUTHENTICATED);
+  EXPECT_EQ(s.error_message(), kTestCredsPluginErrorMsg);
 }
 
 TEST_P(SecureEnd2endTest, NonBlockingAuthMetadataPluginAndProcessorSuccess) {
@@ -1375,6 +1378,7 @@ TEST_P(SecureEnd2endTest, BlockingAuthMetadataPluginFailure) {
   Status s = stub_->Echo(&context, request, &response);
   EXPECT_FALSE(s.ok());
   EXPECT_EQ(s.error_code(), StatusCode::UNAUTHENTICATED);
+  EXPECT_EQ(s.error_message(), kTestCredsPluginErrorMsg);
 }
 
 TEST_P(SecureEnd2endTest, ClientAuthContext) {