diff --git a/Sources/NIO/ChannelPipeline.swift b/Sources/NIO/ChannelPipeline.swift
index 6d533b419a..36bcc31000 100644
--- a/Sources/NIO/ChannelPipeline.swift
+++ b/Sources/NIO/ChannelPipeline.swift
@@ -446,9 +446,16 @@ public final class ChannelPipeline: ChannelInvoker {
         return promise.futureResult
     }
 
+    /// Returns a `ChannelHandlerContext` which matches.
+    ///
+    /// This skips head and tail (as these are internal and should not be accessible by the user.
+    ///
+    /// - parameters:
+    ///     - body: The predicate to execute per `ChannelHandlerContext` in the `ChannelPipeline`.
+    /// -returns: The `ChannelHandlerContext` that matches or `nil` if non did.
     private func contextForPredicate0(_ body: @escaping((ChannelHandlerContext) -> Bool)) -> ChannelHandlerContext? {
-        var curCtx: ChannelHandlerContext? = self.head
-        while let ctx = curCtx {
+        var curCtx: ChannelHandlerContext? = self.head?.next
+        while let ctx = curCtx, ctx !== self.tail {
             if body(ctx) {
                 return ctx
             }
@@ -1422,8 +1429,8 @@ public final class ChannelHandlerContext: ChannelInvoker {
 extension ChannelPipeline: CustomDebugStringConvertible {
     public var debugDescription: String {
         var desc = "ChannelPipeline (\(ObjectIdentifier(self))):\n"
-        var node = self.head
-        while let ctx = node {
+        var node = self.head?.next
+        while let ctx = node, ctx !== self.tail {
             let inboundStr = ctx.handler is _ChannelInboundHandler ? "I" : ""
             let outboundStr = ctx.handler is _ChannelOutboundHandler ? "O" : ""
             desc += "        \(ctx.name) (\(type(of: ctx.handler))) [\(inboundStr)\(outboundStr)]\n"
diff --git a/Tests/NIOTests/ChannelPipelineTest.swift b/Tests/NIOTests/ChannelPipelineTest.swift
index d2a1a292f7..ab558a58f9 100644
--- a/Tests/NIOTests/ChannelPipelineTest.swift
+++ b/Tests/NIOTests/ChannelPipelineTest.swift
@@ -620,4 +620,48 @@ class ChannelPipelineTest: XCTestCase {
         XCTAssertTrue(try h1 === channel.pipeline.context(handlerType: TestHandler.self).wait().handler)
         XCTAssertFalse(try h2 === channel.pipeline.context(handlerType: TestHandler.self).wait().handler)
     }
+
+    func testContextForHeadOrTail() throws {
+        let channel = EmbeddedChannel()
+
+        defer {
+            XCTAssertFalse(try channel.finish())
+        }
+
+        do {
+            _ = try channel.pipeline.context(name: "head").wait()
+            XCTFail()
+        } catch let err as ChannelPipelineError where err == .notFound {
+            /// expected
+        }
+
+        do {
+            _ = try channel.pipeline.context(name: "tail").wait()
+            XCTFail()
+        } catch let err as ChannelPipelineError where err == .notFound {
+            /// expected
+        }
+    }
+
+    func testRemoveHeadOrTail() throws {
+        let channel = EmbeddedChannel()
+
+        defer {
+            XCTAssertFalse(try channel.finish())
+        }
+
+        do {
+            _ = try channel.pipeline.remove(name: "head").wait()
+            XCTFail()
+        } catch let err as ChannelPipelineError where err == .notFound {
+            /// expected
+        }
+
+        do {
+            _ = try channel.pipeline.remove(name: "tail").wait()
+            XCTFail()
+        } catch let err as ChannelPipelineError where err == .notFound {
+            /// expected
+        }
+    }
 }