diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/aggregator/AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler.java b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/aggregator/AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler.java
index 22f7c49556..fa6184a7f3 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/aggregator/AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler.java
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/aggregator/AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2021 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2022 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -579,7 +579,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler extends AbstractMessageP
 					afterRelease(messageGroup, completedMessages);
 				}
 				if (!isExpireGroupsUponCompletion() && this.minimumTimeoutForEmptyGroups > 0) {
-					removeEmptyGroupAfterTimeout(messageGroup, this.minimumTimeoutForEmptyGroups);
+					removeEmptyGroupAfterTimeout(groupIdUuid, this.minimumTimeoutForEmptyGroups);
 				}
 			}
 			else {
@@ -616,29 +616,27 @@ public abstract class AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler extends AbstractMessageP
 		return false;
 	}
 
-	private void removeEmptyGroupAfterTimeout(MessageGroup messageGroup, long timeout) {
-		Object groupId = messageGroup.getGroupId();
-		UUID groupUuid = UUIDConverter.getUUID(groupId);
+	private void removeEmptyGroupAfterTimeout(UUID groupId, long timeout) {
 		ScheduledFuture<?> scheduledFuture =
 				getTaskScheduler()
 						.schedule(() -> {
-							Lock lock = this.lockRegistry.obtain(groupUuid.toString());
+							Lock lock = this.lockRegistry.obtain(groupId.toString());
 
 							try {
 								lock.lockInterruptibly();
 								try {
-									this.expireGroupScheduledFutures.remove(groupUuid);
+									this.expireGroupScheduledFutures.remove(groupId);
 									/*
 									 * Obtain a fresh state for group from the MessageStore,
 									 * since it could be changed while we have waited for lock.
 									 */
-									MessageGroup groupNow = this.messageStore.getMessageGroup(groupUuid);
+									MessageGroup groupNow = this.messageStore.getMessageGroup(groupId);
 									boolean removeGroup = groupNow.size() == 0 &&
 											groupNow.getLastModified()
 													<= (System.currentTimeMillis() - this.minimumTimeoutForEmptyGroups);
 									if (removeGroup) {
-										this.logger.debug(() -> "Removing empty group: " + groupUuid);
-										remove(messageGroup);
+										this.logger.debug(() -> "Removing empty group: " + groupId);
+										remove(groupNow);
 									}
 								}
 								finally {
@@ -649,13 +647,13 @@ public abstract class AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler extends AbstractMessageP
 								Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
 								this.logger.debug(() -> "Thread was interrupted while trying to obtain lock."
 										+ "Rescheduling empty MessageGroup [ " + groupId + "] for removal.");
-								removeEmptyGroupAfterTimeout(messageGroup, timeout);
+								removeEmptyGroupAfterTimeout(groupId, timeout);
 							}
 
 						}, new Date(System.currentTimeMillis() + timeout));
 
 		this.logger.debug(() -> "Schedule empty MessageGroup [ " + groupId + "] for removal.");
-		this.expireGroupScheduledFutures.put(groupUuid, scheduledFuture);
+		this.expireGroupScheduledFutures.put(groupId, scheduledFuture);
 	}
 
 	private void scheduleGroupToForceComplete(MessageGroup messageGroup) {
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/DelayHandler.java b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/DelayHandler.java
index 1f0fd45f44..1b72b2d6d8 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/DelayHandler.java
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/DelayHandler.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2021 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2022 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -425,24 +425,7 @@ public class DelayHandler extends AbstractReplyProducingMessageHandler implement
 			this.messageStore.addMessageToGroup(this.messageGroupId, delayedMessage);
 		}
 
-		Runnable releaseTask;
-
-		if (this.messageStore instanceof SimpleMessageStore) {
-			final Message<?> messageToSchedule = delayedMessage;
-
-			releaseTask = () -> releaseMessage(messageToSchedule);
-		}
-		else {
-			final UUID messageId = delayedMessage.getHeaders().getId();
-
-			releaseTask = () -> {
-				Message<?> messageToRelease = getMessageById(messageId);
-				if (messageToRelease != null) {
-					releaseMessage(messageToRelease);
-				}
-			};
-		}
-
+		Runnable releaseTask = releaseTaskForMessage(delayedMessage);
 		Date startTime = new Date(messageWrapper.getRequestDate() + delay);
 
 		if (TransactionSynchronizationManager.isSynchronizationActive() &&
@@ -463,6 +446,21 @@ public class DelayHandler extends AbstractReplyProducingMessageHandler implement
 		}
 	}
 
+	private Runnable releaseTaskForMessage(Message<?> delayedMessage) {
+		if (this.messageStore instanceof SimpleMessageStore) {
+			return () -> releaseMessage(delayedMessage);
+		}
+		else {
+			UUID messageId = delayedMessage.getHeaders().getId();
+			return () -> {
+				Message<?> messageToRelease = getMessageById(messageId);
+				if (messageToRelease != null) {
+					releaseMessage(messageToRelease);
+				}
+			};
+		}
+	}
+
 	private Message<?> getMessageById(UUID messageId) {
 		Message<?> theMessage = ((MessageStore) this.messageStore).getMessage(messageId);
 
@@ -531,9 +529,9 @@ public class DelayHandler extends AbstractReplyProducingMessageHandler implement
 		rescheduleAt(message, new Date());
 	}
 
-	protected void rescheduleAt(final Message<?> message, Date startTime) {
-		getTaskScheduler()
-				.schedule(() -> releaseMessage(message), startTime);
+	protected void rescheduleAt(Message<?> message, Date startTime) {
+		Runnable releaseTask = releaseTaskForMessage(message);
+		getTaskScheduler().schedule(releaseTask, startTime);
 	}
 
 	private void doReleaseMessage(Message<?> message) {