diff --git a/Lib/httplib.py b/Lib/httplib.py
index 262d60259c2..5b89305899d 100644
--- a/Lib/httplib.py
+++ b/Lib/httplib.py
@@ -515,6 +515,7 @@ class HTTPResponse:
             return ''
 
         if self._method == 'HEAD':
+            self.close()
             return ''
 
         if self.chunked: