diff --git a/Lib/SocketServer.py b/Lib/SocketServer.py
index 23f3a8e8be3..d8081efbe01 100644
--- a/Lib/SocketServer.py
+++ b/Lib/SocketServer.py
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ class ForkingMixIn:
                 os._exit(0)
             except:
                 try:
+                    self.socket.close()
                     self.handle_error(request,
                                       client_address)
                 finally: