diff --git a/gcloud-java-core/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/BaseWriteChannel.java b/gcloud-java-core/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/BaseWriteChannel.java
index e05383a65826..1d18a5a27e81 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-core/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/BaseWriteChannel.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-core/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/BaseWriteChannel.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.Serializable;
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.nio.channels.ClosedChannelException;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Objects;
 
@@ -114,9 +115,9 @@ private void flush() {
     }
   }
 
-  private void validateOpen() throws IOException {
+  private void validateOpen() throws ClosedChannelException {
     if (!isOpen) {
-      throw new IOException("stream is closed");
+      throw new ClosedChannelException();
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/gcloud-java-core/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/BaseWriteChannelTest.java b/gcloud-java-core/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/BaseWriteChannelTest.java
index e49a17b019e0..6d5306a3bc7f 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-core/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/BaseWriteChannelTest.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-core/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/BaseWriteChannelTest.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.Serializable;
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.nio.channels.ClosedChannelException;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Random;
 
@@ -102,8 +103,7 @@ public void testClose() throws IOException {
   @Test
   public void testValidateOpen() throws IOException {
     channel.close();
-    thrown.expect(IOException.class);
-    thrown.expectMessage("stream is closed");
+    thrown.expect(ClosedChannelException.class);
     channel.write(ByteBuffer.allocate(42));
   }
 
diff --git a/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/BlobReadChannel.java b/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/BlobReadChannel.java
index 121f2eb63589..2b9643434ecc 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/BlobReadChannel.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/BlobReadChannel.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.Serializable;
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.nio.channels.ClosedChannelException;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ class BlobReadChannel implements ReadChannel {
   private byte[] buffer;
 
   BlobReadChannel(StorageOptions serviceOptions, BlobId blob,
-                  Map<StorageRpc.Option, ?> requestOptions) {
+      Map<StorageRpc.Option, ?> requestOptions) {
     this.serviceOptions = serviceOptions;
     this.blob = blob;
     this.requestOptions = requestOptions;
@@ -91,9 +92,9 @@ public void close() {
     }
   }
 
-  private void validateOpen() throws IOException {
+  private void validateOpen() throws ClosedChannelException {
     if (!isOpen) {
-      throw new IOException("stream is closed");
+      throw new ClosedChannelException();
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/gcloud-java-storage/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/BlobReadChannelTest.java b/gcloud-java-storage/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/BlobReadChannelTest.java
index ffb37e8c5032..3de88f23b2bb 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-storage/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/BlobReadChannelTest.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-storage/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/BlobReadChannelTest.java
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.nio.channels.ClosedChannelException;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Random;
@@ -163,8 +164,8 @@ public void testReadClosed() {
     try {
       ByteBuffer readBuffer = ByteBuffer.allocate(DEFAULT_CHUNK_SIZE);
       reader.read(readBuffer);
-      fail("Expected BlobReadChannel read to throw IOException");
-    } catch (IOException ex) {
+      fail("Expected BlobReadChannel read to throw ClosedChannelException");
+    } catch (ClosedChannelException ex) {
       // expected
     }
   }