diff --git a/libparted/arch/linux.c b/libparted/arch/linux.c
index e2c4139..296fe64 100644
--- a/libparted/arch/linux.c
+++ b/libparted/arch/linux.c
@@ -1604,6 +1604,9 @@ retry:
 			dev->path, strerror (errno))
 				== PED_EXCEPTION_RETRY)
 			goto retry;
+                else
+                    /* Try hard to make sure the file descriptor never leaks */
+                    close (arch_specific->fd);
         return 1;
 }