diff --git a/glib/gspawn-posix.c b/glib/gspawn-posix.c
index 169a25395..62a6e6a5a 100644
--- a/glib/gspawn-posix.c
+++ b/glib/gspawn-posix.c
@@ -546,6 +546,8 @@ write_err_and_exit (gint fd, gint msg)
   
   write_all (fd, &msg, sizeof(msg));
   write_all (fd, &en, sizeof(en));
+
+  close (fd);
   
   _exit (1);
 }