diff --git a/sha1-file.c b/sha1-file.c
index 5bd11c85bc..fb098c7a17 100644
--- a/sha1-file.c
+++ b/sha1-file.c
@@ -971,6 +971,7 @@ static void *map_sha1_file_1(struct repository *r, const char *path,
 			if (!*size) {
 				/* mmap() is forbidden on empty files */
 				error(_("object file %s is empty"), path);
+				close(fd);
 				return NULL;
 			}
 			map = xmmap(NULL, *size, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, fd, 0);