diff --git a/Modules/main.c b/Modules/main.c
index 59b0e9f2ed57..417b3f2bf39c 100644
--- a/Modules/main.c
+++ b/Modules/main.c
@@ -416,6 +416,7 @@ Py_Main(int argc, char **argv)
 				if (fstat(fileno(fp), &sb) == 0 &&
 				    S_ISDIR(sb.st_mode)) {
 					fprintf(stderr, "%s: '%s' is a directory, cannot continue\n", argv[0], filename);
+					fclose(fp);
 					return 1;
 				}
 			}