diff --git a/internal/transport/http2_client.go b/internal/transport/http2_client.go
index 9bd8c27b3655..5922750e81cd 100644
--- a/internal/transport/http2_client.go
+++ b/internal/transport/http2_client.go
@@ -352,6 +352,7 @@ func newHTTP2Client(connectCtx, ctx context.Context, addr TargetInfo, opts Conne
 func (t *http2Client) newStream(ctx context.Context, callHdr *CallHdr) *Stream {
 	// TODO(zhaoq): Handle uint32 overflow of Stream.id.
 	s := &Stream{
+		ct:             t,
 		done:           make(chan struct{}),
 		method:         callHdr.Method,
 		sendCompress:   callHdr.SendCompress,
@@ -1191,6 +1192,7 @@ func (t *http2Client) operateHeaders(frame *http2.MetaHeadersFrame) {
 
 	// If headerChan hasn't been closed yet
 	if atomic.CompareAndSwapUint32(&s.headerChanClosed, 0, 1) {
+		s.headerValid = true
 		if !endStream {
 			// HEADERS frame block carries a Response-Headers.
 			isHeader = true
diff --git a/internal/transport/transport.go b/internal/transport/transport.go
index 1c1d106709ac..965c76f18fa1 100644
--- a/internal/transport/transport.go
+++ b/internal/transport/transport.go
@@ -233,6 +233,7 @@ const (
 type Stream struct {
 	id           uint32
 	st           ServerTransport    // nil for client side Stream
+	ct           *http2Client       // nil for server side Stream
 	ctx          context.Context    // the associated context of the stream
 	cancel       context.CancelFunc // always nil for client side Stream
 	done         chan struct{}      // closed at the end of stream to unblock writers. On the client side.
@@ -251,6 +252,10 @@ type Stream struct {
 
 	headerChan       chan struct{} // closed to indicate the end of header metadata.
 	headerChanClosed uint32        // set when headerChan is closed. Used to avoid closing headerChan multiple times.
+	// headerValid indicates whether a valid header was received.  Only
+	// meaningful after headerChan is closed (always call waitOnHeader() before
+	// reading its value).
+	headerValid bool
 
 	// hdrMu protects header and trailer metadata on the server-side.
 	hdrMu sync.Mutex
@@ -303,34 +308,26 @@ func (s *Stream) getState() streamState {
 	return streamState(atomic.LoadUint32((*uint32)(&s.state)))
 }
 
-func (s *Stream) waitOnHeader() error {
+func (s *Stream) waitOnHeader() {
 	if s.headerChan == nil {
 		// On the server headerChan is always nil since a stream originates
 		// only after having received headers.
-		return nil
+		return
 	}
 	select {
 	case <-s.ctx.Done():
-		// We prefer success over failure when reading messages because we delay
-		// context error in stream.Read(). To keep behavior consistent, we also
-		// prefer success here.
-		select {
-		case <-s.headerChan:
-			return nil
-		default:
-		}
-		return ContextErr(s.ctx.Err())
+		// Close the stream to prevent headers/trailers from changing after
+		// this function returns.
+		err := ContextErr(s.ctx.Err())
+		s.ct.closeStream(s, err, false, 0, status.Convert(err), nil, false)
 	case <-s.headerChan:
-		return nil
 	}
 }
 
 // RecvCompress returns the compression algorithm applied to the inbound
 // message. It is empty string if there is no compression applied.
 func (s *Stream) RecvCompress() string {
-	if err := s.waitOnHeader(); err != nil {
-		return ""
-	}
+	s.waitOnHeader()
 	return s.recvCompress
 }
 
@@ -358,29 +355,19 @@ func (s *Stream) Header() (metadata.MD, error) {
 		// header after t.WriteHeader is called.
 		return s.header.Copy(), nil
 	}
-	err := s.waitOnHeader()
-	// Even if the stream is closed, header is returned if available.
-	select {
-	case <-s.headerChan:
-		if s.header == nil {
-			return nil, nil
-		}
-		return s.header.Copy(), nil
-	default:
+	s.waitOnHeader()
+	if !s.headerValid {
+		return nil, s.status.Err()
 	}
-	return nil, err
+	return s.header.Copy(), nil
 }
 
 // TrailersOnly blocks until a header or trailers-only frame is received and
 // then returns true if the stream was trailers-only.  If the stream ends
-// before headers are received, returns true, nil.  If a context error happens
-// first, returns it as a status error.  Client-side only.
-func (s *Stream) TrailersOnly() (bool, error) {
-	err := s.waitOnHeader()
-	if err != nil {
-		return false, err
-	}
-	return s.noHeaders, nil
+// before headers are received, returns true, nil.  Client-side only.
+func (s *Stream) TrailersOnly() bool {
+	s.waitOnHeader()
+	return s.noHeaders
 }
 
 // Trailer returns the cached trailer metedata. Note that if it is not called
diff --git a/stream.go b/stream.go
index 134a624a15df..bb99940e36fe 100644
--- a/stream.go
+++ b/stream.go
@@ -488,7 +488,7 @@ func (cs *clientStream) shouldRetry(err error) error {
 	pushback := 0
 	hasPushback := false
 	if cs.attempt.s != nil {
-		if to, toErr := cs.attempt.s.TrailersOnly(); toErr != nil || !to {
+		if !cs.attempt.s.TrailersOnly() {
 			return err
 		}
 
diff --git a/test/context_canceled_test.go b/test/context_canceled_test.go
index 9715b5c203e2..781f63f0c04e 100644
--- a/test/context_canceled_test.go
+++ b/test/context_canceled_test.go
@@ -139,13 +139,12 @@ func (s) TestCancelWhileRecvingWithCompression(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
 		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), time.Second*5)
-		defer cancel()
 		s, err := ss.client.FullDuplexCall(ctx, grpc.UseCompressor(gzip.Name))
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("failed to start bidi streaming RPC: %v", err)
 		}
 		// Cancel the stream while receiving to trigger the internal error.
-		time.AfterFunc(time.Millisecond*10, cancel)
+		time.AfterFunc(time.Millisecond, cancel)
 		for {
 			_, err := s.Recv()
 			if err != nil {