diff --git a/core/chaincode/handler.go b/core/chaincode/handler.go
index b7e418197cf..cb864803d4c 100644
--- a/core/chaincode/handler.go
+++ b/core/chaincode/handler.go
@@ -149,6 +149,8 @@ type Handler struct {
 	UUIDGenerator UUIDGenerator
 	// AppConfig is used to retrieve the application config for a channel
 	AppConfig ApplicationConfigRetriever
+	// Metrics holds chaincode handler metrics
+	Metrics *HandlerMetrics
 
 	// state holds the current handler state. It will be created, established, or
 	// ready.
@@ -166,8 +168,10 @@ type Handler struct {
 	chatStream ccintf.ChaincodeStream
 	// errChan is used to communicate errors from the async send to the receive loop
 	errChan chan error
-	// Metrics holds chaincode handler metrics
-	Metrics *HandlerMetrics
+	// mutex is used to serialze the stream closed chan.
+	mutex sync.Mutex
+	// streamDoneChan is closed when the chaincode stream terminates.
+	streamDoneChan chan struct{}
 }
 
 // handleMessage is called by ProcessStream to dispatch messages.
@@ -389,9 +393,20 @@ func (h *Handler) deregister() {
 	}
 }
 
+func (h *Handler) streamDone() <-chan struct{} {
+	h.mutex.Lock()
+	defer h.mutex.Unlock()
+	return h.streamDoneChan
+}
+
 func (h *Handler) ProcessStream(stream ccintf.ChaincodeStream) error {
 	defer h.deregister()
 
+	h.mutex.Lock()
+	h.streamDoneChan = make(chan struct{})
+	h.mutex.Unlock()
+	defer close(h.streamDoneChan)
+
 	h.chatStream = stream
 	h.errChan = make(chan error, 1)
 
@@ -1249,9 +1264,9 @@ func (h *Handler) Execute(txParams *ccprovider.TransactionParams, cccid *ccprovi
 	case <-time.After(timeout):
 		err = errors.New("timeout expired while executing transaction")
 		ccName := cccid.Name + ":" + cccid.Version
-		h.Metrics.ExecuteTimeouts.With(
-			"chaincode", ccName,
-		).Add(1)
+		h.Metrics.ExecuteTimeouts.With("chaincode", ccName).Add(1)
+	case <-h.streamDone():
+		err = errors.New("chaincode stream terminated")
 	}
 
 	return ccresp, err
diff --git a/core/chaincode/handler_internal_test.go b/core/chaincode/handler_internal_test.go
index 07b556fff65..78b6a0222f4 100644
--- a/core/chaincode/handler_internal_test.go
+++ b/core/chaincode/handler_internal_test.go
@@ -25,3 +25,11 @@ func SetHandlerChatStream(h *Handler, chatStream ccintf.ChaincodeStream) {
 func SetHandlerCCInstance(h *Handler, ccInstance *sysccprovider.ChaincodeInstance) {
 	h.ccInstance = ccInstance
 }
+
+func StreamDone(h *Handler) <-chan struct{} {
+	return h.streamDone()
+}
+
+func SetStreamDoneChan(h *Handler, ch chan struct{}) {
+	h.streamDoneChan = ch
+}
diff --git a/core/chaincode/handler_test.go b/core/chaincode/handler_test.go
index c224b8642dd..076597cc016 100644
--- a/core/chaincode/handler_test.go
+++ b/core/chaincode/handler_test.go
@@ -2583,6 +2583,23 @@ var _ = Describe("Handler", func() {
 			})
 		})
 
+		Context("when the chaincode stream terminates", func() {
+			It("returns an error", func() {
+				streamDoneChan := make(chan struct{})
+				chaincode.SetStreamDoneChan(handler, streamDoneChan)
+
+				errCh := make(chan error, 1)
+				go func() {
+					_, err := handler.Execute(txParams, cccid, incomingMessage, time.Hour)
+					errCh <- err
+				}()
+				Consistently(errCh).ShouldNot(Receive())
+
+				close(streamDoneChan)
+				Eventually(errCh).Should(Receive(MatchError("chaincode stream terminated")))
+			})
+		})
+
 		Context("when execute times out", func() {
 			It("returns an error", func() {
 				errCh := make(chan error, 1)
@@ -2769,6 +2786,22 @@ var _ = Describe("Handler", func() {
 			Eventually(fakeChatStream.RecvCallCount).Should(Equal(100))
 		})
 
+		It("manages the stream done channel", func() {
+			releaseChan := make(chan struct{})
+			fakeChatStream.RecvStub = func() (*pb.ChaincodeMessage, error) {
+				<-releaseChan
+				return nil, errors.New("cc-went-away")
+			}
+			go handler.ProcessStream(fakeChatStream)
+			Eventually(fakeChatStream.RecvCallCount).Should(Equal(1))
+
+			streamDoneChan := chaincode.StreamDone(handler)
+			Consistently(streamDoneChan).ShouldNot(Receive())
+
+			close(releaseChan)
+			Eventually(streamDoneChan).Should(BeClosed())
+		})
+
 		Context("when receive fails with an io.EOF", func() {
 			BeforeEach(func() {
 				fakeChatStream.RecvReturns(nil, io.EOF)
@@ -2871,8 +2904,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Handler", func() {
 			var (
 				cccid           *ccprovider.CCContext
 				incomingMessage *pb.ChaincodeMessage
-
-				recvChan chan *pb.ChaincodeMessage
+				recvChan        chan *pb.ChaincodeMessage
 			)
 
 			BeforeEach(func() {