diff --git a/Lib/posixfile.py b/Lib/posixfile.py
index 18f72fd0e58..23f2c8522e3 100644
--- a/Lib/posixfile.py
+++ b/Lib/posixfile.py
@@ -67,10 +67,6 @@ class _posixfile_:
                 (self.states[file.closed], file.name, file.mode, \
                  hex(id(self))[2:])
 
-    def __del__(self):
-        if hasattr(self, "_file_"):
-            self._file_.close()
-
     #
     # Initialization routines
     #