1 files changed, 4 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/file.c b/file.c
index 16972ffdf7..b83bd27138 100644
--- a/file.c
+++ b/file.c
@@ -1382,11 +1382,13 @@ cf_merge_files(char **out_filenamep, int in_file_count,
     case MERGE_ERR_CANT_OPEN_INFILE:
       cf_open_failure_alert_box(in_filenames[err_fileno], err, err_info,
                                 FALSE, 0);
+      ws_close(out_fd);
       break;
 
     case MERGE_ERR_CANT_OPEN_OUTFILE:
       cf_open_failure_alert_box(out_filename, err, err_info, TRUE,
                                 file_type);
+      ws_close(out_fd);
       break;
 
     case MERGE_ERR_CANT_READ_INFILE:      /* fall through */
@@ -1399,7 +1401,8 @@ cf_merge_files(char **out_filenamep, int in_file_count,
   }
 
   g_free(err_info);
-  ws_close(out_fd);
+  /* for general case, no need to close out_fd: file handle associated to this file
+     descriptor was already closed by the call to wtap_dump_close() in merge_files() */
 
   if (status != MERGE_OK) {
     /* Callers aren't expected to treat an error or an explicit abort