diff --git a/main/file.c b/main/file.c
index cfa5bf3304..65bf0dbe3b 100644
--- a/main/file.c
+++ b/main/file.c
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ static int ast_filehelper(const char *filename, const void *arg2, const char *fm
 				if (open_wrapper(s)) {
 					fclose(bfile);
 					free(fn);
-					free(s);
+					ast_closestream(s);
 					continue;	/* cannot run open on file */
 				}
 				/* ok this is good for OPEN */