diff --git a/Lib/httplib.py b/Lib/httplib.py
index 5eb3f0d1fa3..d66a9fcd05b 100644
--- a/Lib/httplib.py
+++ b/Lib/httplib.py
@@ -525,6 +525,7 @@ class HTTPResponse:
             return ''
 
         if self._method == 'HEAD':
+            self.close()
             return ''
 
         if self.chunked: