diff --git a/vertx-core/src/test/java/io/vertx/tests/http/Http2Test.java b/vertx-core/src/test/java/io/vertx/tests/http/Http2Test.java
index 213a072c0d1..1bad37fe595 100644
--- a/vertx-core/src/test/java/io/vertx/tests/http/Http2Test.java
+++ b/vertx-core/src/test/java/io/vertx/tests/http/Http2Test.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import io.vertx.core.buffer.Buffer;
 import io.vertx.core.http.*;
 import io.vertx.core.net.JdkSSLEngineOptions;
+import io.vertx.core.net.NetClient;
 import io.vertx.core.net.NetSocket;
 import io.vertx.core.net.OpenSSLEngineOptions;
 import io.vertx.core.net.SSLEngineOptions;
@@ -53,6 +54,8 @@
  */
 public class Http2Test extends HttpTest {
 
+  private NetClient netClient;
+
   public Http2Test() {
     this(false);
   }
@@ -735,7 +738,10 @@ public void testSslHandshakeTimeout(Checkpoint checkpoint) throws Exception {
         }
       });
     startServer();
-    NetSocket so = vertx.createNetClient().connect(config.port(), config.host()).await();
+    // Keep a reference to the client: an unreferenced client is closed when it is garbage collected, which
+    // would close the connection before the handshake timeout happens
+    netClient = vertx.createNetClient();
+    netClient.connect(config.port(), config.host()).await();
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/vertx-core/src/test/java/io/vertx/tests/http/HttpConnectionEarlyResetTest.java b/vertx-core/src/test/java/io/vertx/tests/http/HttpConnectionEarlyResetTest.java
index b06c1c186be..73fdea0342b 100644
--- a/vertx-core/src/test/java/io/vertx/tests/http/HttpConnectionEarlyResetTest.java
+++ b/vertx-core/src/test/java/io/vertx/tests/http/HttpConnectionEarlyResetTest.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import io.vertx.core.Context;
 import io.vertx.core.Vertx;
 import io.vertx.core.http.HttpServer;
+import io.vertx.core.net.NetClient;
 import io.vertx.core.net.NetClientOptions;
 import io.vertx.test.core.VertxTestBase;
 import io.vertx.test.http.HttpTestBase;
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@
 public class HttpConnectionEarlyResetTest extends VertxTestBase {
 
   private HttpServer httpServer;
+  private NetClient client;
   private AtomicReference<Throwable> caught = new AtomicReference<>();
   private CountDownLatch resetLatch = new CountDownLatch(1);
 
@@ -57,7 +59,10 @@ public void setUp() throws Exception {
 
   @Test
   public void testExceptionCaught() throws Exception {
-    vertx.createNetClient(new NetClientOptions().setSoLinger(0)).connect(HttpTestBase.DEFAULT_HTTP_PORT, "localhost").onComplete(onSuccess(socket -> {
+    // Keep a reference to the client: an unreferenced client is closed when it is garbage collected, which
+    // would close the connection gracefully before the reset
+    client = vertx.createNetClient(new NetClientOptions().setSoLinger(0));
+    client.connect(HttpTestBase.DEFAULT_HTTP_PORT, "localhost").onComplete(onSuccess(socket -> {
       vertx.setTimer(2000, id -> {
         socket.close();
       });