diff --git a/examples/androidapp/src/org/appspot/apprtc/WebSocketChannelClient.java b/examples/androidapp/src/org/appspot/apprtc/WebSocketChannelClient.java
index bf241fe8cb..c013c76f0d 100644
--- a/examples/androidapp/src/org/appspot/apprtc/WebSocketChannelClient.java
+++ b/examples/androidapp/src/org/appspot/apprtc/WebSocketChannelClient.java
@@ -10,22 +10,18 @@
 
 package org.appspot.apprtc;
 
-import org.appspot.apprtc.util.AsyncHttpURLConnection;
-import org.appspot.apprtc.util.AsyncHttpURLConnection.AsyncHttpEvents;
-
 import android.os.Handler;
 import android.util.Log;
-
 import de.tavendo.autobahn.WebSocket.WebSocketConnectionObserver;
 import de.tavendo.autobahn.WebSocketConnection;
 import de.tavendo.autobahn.WebSocketException;
-
-import org.json.JSONException;
-import org.json.JSONObject;
-
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
+import org.appspot.apprtc.util.AsyncHttpURLConnection;
+import org.appspot.apprtc.util.AsyncHttpURLConnection.AsyncHttpEvents;
+import org.json.JSONException;
+import org.json.JSONObject;
 
 /**
  * WebSocket client implementation.
@@ -34,7 +30,6 @@ import java.util.LinkedList;
  * passed in a constructor, otherwise exception will be thrown.
  * All events are dispatched on the same thread.
  */
-
 public class WebSocketChannelClient {
   private static final String TAG = "WSChannelRTCClient";
   private static final int CLOSE_TIMEOUT = 1000;
@@ -46,6 +41,9 @@ public class WebSocketChannelClient {
   private String roomID;
   private String clientID;
   private WebSocketConnectionState state;
+  // Do not remove this member variable. If this is removed, the observer gets garbage collected and
+  // this causes test breakages.
+  private WebSocketObserver wsObserver;
   private final Object closeEventLock = new Object();
   private boolean closeEvent;
   // WebSocket send queue. Messages are added to the queue when WebSocket
@@ -92,7 +90,7 @@ public class WebSocketChannelClient {
 
     Log.d(TAG, "Connecting WebSocket to: " + wsUrl + ". Post URL: " + postUrl);
     ws = new WebSocketConnection();
-    WebSocketObserver wsObserver = new WebSocketObserver();
+    wsObserver = new WebSocketObserver();
     try {
       ws.connect(new URI(wsServerUrl), wsObserver);
     } catch (URISyntaxException e) {