diff --git a/lib/tty/tty-internal.c b/lib/tty/tty-internal.c
index ff159a4ee..1236d0540 100644
--- a/lib/tty/tty-internal.c
+++ b/lib/tty/tty-internal.c
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ tty_create_winch_pipe (void)
         fprintf (stderr, _("\nCannot configure write end of SIGWINCH pipe: %s (%d)\n"),
                  mcerror->message, mcerror->code);
         g_error_free (mcerror);
+        tty_destroy_winch_pipe ();
         exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 
@@ -92,8 +93,18 @@ tty_create_winch_pipe (void)
         fprintf (stderr, _("\nCannot configure read end of SIGWINCH pipe: %s (%d)\n"),
                  mcerror->message, mcerror->code);
         g_error_free (mcerror);
+        tty_destroy_winch_pipe ();
         exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 }
 
 /* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+void
+tty_destroy_winch_pipe (void)
+{
+    (void) close (sigwinch_pipe[0]);
+    (void) close (sigwinch_pipe[1]);
+}
+
+/* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
diff --git a/lib/tty/tty-internal.h b/lib/tty/tty-internal.h
index 5b367f41a..662b0bcaf 100644
--- a/lib/tty/tty-internal.h
+++ b/lib/tty/tty-internal.h
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ extern int sigwinch_pipe[2];
 /*** declarations of public functions ************************************************************/
 
 void tty_create_winch_pipe (void);
+void tty_destroy_winch_pipe (void);
 
 char *mc_tty_normalize_from_utf8 (const char *);
 void tty_init_xterm_support (gboolean is_xterm);
diff --git a/lib/tty/tty-ncurses.c b/lib/tty/tty-ncurses.c
index b8a3577a8..2579a0a99 100644
--- a/lib/tty/tty-ncurses.c
+++ b/lib/tty/tty-ncurses.c
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ tty_init (gboolean mouse_enable, gboolean is_xterm)
 void
 tty_shutdown (void)
 {
+    tty_destroy_winch_pipe ();
     tty_reset_shell_mode ();
     tty_noraw_mode ();
     tty_keypad (FALSE);
diff --git a/lib/tty/tty-slang.c b/lib/tty/tty-slang.c
index 99372d046..10cce4e0d 100644
--- a/lib/tty/tty-slang.c
+++ b/lib/tty/tty-slang.c
@@ -343,6 +343,7 @@ tty_shutdown (void)
 {
     char *op_cap;
 
+    tty_destroy_winch_pipe ();
     tty_reset_shell_mode ();
     tty_noraw_mode ();
     tty_keypad (FALSE);