diff --git a/util/hb-subset.cc b/util/hb-subset.cc
index b65bf3154..fd0ffea4c 100644
--- a/util/hb-subset.cc
+++ b/util/hb-subset.cc
@@ -794,6 +794,7 @@ parse_file_for (const char *name,
       g_set_error (error, G_OPTION_ERROR, G_OPTION_ERROR_FAILED,
 		   "Failed reading file `%s': %s",
 		   arg, strerror (errno));
+      fclose (fp);
       return false;
     }
     g_string_append_c (gs, '\0');
@@ -814,6 +815,8 @@ parse_file_for (const char *name,
 
   g_string_free (gs, false);
 
+  fclose (fp);
+
   return true;
 }