diff --git a/gio/gunixinputstream.c b/gio/gunixinputstream.c
index 3d5f93806..65a0dbdca 100644
--- a/gio/gunixinputstream.c
+++ b/gio/gunixinputstream.c
@@ -417,7 +417,8 @@ g_unix_input_stream_read (GInputStream  *stream,
       break;
     }
 
-  g_cancellable_release_fd (cancellable);
+  if (nfds == 2)
+    g_cancellable_release_fd (cancellable);
   return res;
 }
 
diff --git a/gio/gunixoutputstream.c b/gio/gunixoutputstream.c
index 01c32591e..86f527777 100644
--- a/gio/gunixoutputstream.c
+++ b/gio/gunixoutputstream.c
@@ -403,7 +403,8 @@ g_unix_output_stream_write (GOutputStream  *stream,
       break;
     }
 
-  g_cancellable_release_fd (cancellable);
+  if (nfds == 2)
+    g_cancellable_release_fd (cancellable);
   return res;
 }