diff --git a/Lib/logging/handlers.py b/Lib/logging/handlers.py
index bed09f05d0e..f1ddbb5edae 100644
--- a/Lib/logging/handlers.py
+++ b/Lib/logging/handlers.py
@@ -876,6 +876,7 @@ class SysLogHandler(logging.Handler):
                 try:
                     self.socket.send(msg)
                 except OSError:
+                    self.socket.close()
                     self._connect_unixsocket(self.address)
                     self.socket.send(msg)
             elif self.socktype == socket.SOCK_DGRAM:
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index ceab576aa30..953d57e0790 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -91,6 +91,8 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #17981: Closed socket on error in SysLogHandler.
+
 - Issue #17964: Fix os.sysconf(): the return type of the C sysconf() function
   is long, not int.