diff --git a/lib/internal/http2/compat.js b/lib/internal/http2/compat.js
index 373311547a3350..4038a4fdb5321d 100644
--- a/lib/internal/http2/compat.js
+++ b/lib/internal/http2/compat.js
@@ -411,9 +411,9 @@ class Http2ServerRequest extends Readable {
   }
 
   setTimeout(msecs, callback) {
-    if (this[kState].closed)
-      return;
-    this[kStream].setTimeout(msecs, callback);
+    if (!this[kState].closed)
+      this[kStream].setTimeout(msecs, callback);
+    return this;
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-http2-compat-serverrequest-settimeout.js b/test/parallel/test-http2-compat-serverrequest-settimeout.js
index 4b7a629cf55fde..44abf29cafb9d9 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-http2-compat-serverrequest-settimeout.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-http2-compat-serverrequest-settimeout.js
@@ -3,15 +3,17 @@
 const common = require('../common');
 if (!common.hasCrypto)
   common.skip('missing crypto');
+const assert = require('assert');
 const http2 = require('http2');
 
 const msecs = common.platformTimeout(1);
 const server = http2.createServer();
 
 server.on('request', (req, res) => {
-  req.setTimeout(msecs, common.mustCall(() => {
+  const request = req.setTimeout(msecs, common.mustCall(() => {
     res.end();
   }));
+  assert.strictEqual(request, req);
   req.on('timeout', common.mustCall());
   res.on('finish', common.mustCall(() => {
     req.setTimeout(msecs, common.mustNotCall());