diff --git a/sway/ipc-server.c b/sway/ipc-server.c
index a9325a81b..05041ec19 100644
--- a/sway/ipc-server.c
+++ b/sway/ipc-server.c
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ int ipc_handle_connection(int fd, uint32_t mask, void *data) {
 	int flags;
 	if ((flags=fcntl(client_fd, F_GETFD)) == -1 || fcntl(client_fd, F_SETFD, flags|FD_CLOEXEC) == -1) {
 		sway_log_errno(L_INFO, "Unable to set CLOEXEC on IPC client socket");
+		close(client_fd);
 		return 0;
 	}