diff --git a/notebook/services/kernels/handlers.py b/notebook/services/kernels/handlers.py
index c64a9853c..1087aad18 100644
--- a/notebook/services/kernels/handlers.py
+++ b/notebook/services/kernels/handlers.py
@@ -100,7 +100,6 @@ class ZMQChannelsHandler(AuthenticatedZMQStreamHandler):
     # class-level registry of open sessions
     # allows checking for conflict on session-id,
     # which is used as a zmq identity and must be unique.
-    session_key = ''
     _open_sessions = {}
 
     @property
@@ -200,6 +199,8 @@ class ZMQChannelsHandler(AuthenticatedZMQStreamHandler):
         self.kernel_id = None
         self.kernel_info_channel = None
         self._kernel_info_future = Future()
+        self._close_future = Future()
+        self.session_key = ''
 
         # Rate limiting code
         self._iopub_window_msg_count = 0
@@ -216,7 +217,7 @@ class ZMQChannelsHandler(AuthenticatedZMQStreamHandler):
         # authenticate first
         super(ZMQChannelsHandler, self).pre_get()
         # check session collision:
-        self._register_session()
+        yield self._register_session()
         # then request kernel info, waiting up to a certain time before giving up.
         # We don't want to wait forever, because browsers don't take it well when
         # servers never respond to websocket connection requests.
@@ -240,11 +241,19 @@ class ZMQChannelsHandler(AuthenticatedZMQStreamHandler):
         self.kernel_id = cast_unicode(kernel_id, 'ascii')
         yield super(ZMQChannelsHandler, self).get(kernel_id=kernel_id)
     
+    @gen.coroutine
     def _register_session(self):
-        """Ensure we aren't creating a duplicate session"""
+        """Ensure we aren't creating a duplicate session.
+        
+        If a previous identical session is still open, close it to avoid collisions.
+        This is likely due to a client reconnecting from a lost network connection,
+        where the socket on our side has not been cleaned up yet.
+        """
         self.session_key = '%s:%s' % (self.kernel_id, self.session.session)
-        if self.session_key in self._open_sessions:
-            raise web.HTTPError(400, "Session %s already open." % self.session_key)
+        stale_handler = self._open_sessions.get(self.session_key)
+        if stale_handler:
+            self.log.warning("Replacing stale connection: %s", self.session_key)
+            yield stale_handler.close()
         self._open_sessions[self.session_key] = self
     
     def open(self, kernel_id):
@@ -363,6 +372,9 @@ class ZMQChannelsHandler(AuthenticatedZMQStreamHandler):
                 return
         super(ZMQChannelsHandler, self)._on_zmq_reply(stream, msg)
 
+    def close(self):
+        super(ZMQChannelsHandler, self).close()
+        return self._close_future
 
     def on_close(self):
         self.log.debug("Websocket closed %s", self.session_key)
@@ -389,6 +401,7 @@ class ZMQChannelsHandler(AuthenticatedZMQStreamHandler):
                 socket.close()
         
         self.channels = {}
+        self._close_future.set_result(None)
 
     def _send_status_message(self, status):
         msg = self.session.msg("status",