diff --git a/qemu-ga.c b/qemu-ga.c
index 8f87621ae4..26671fee3f 100644
--- a/qemu-ga.c
+++ b/qemu-ga.c
@@ -247,6 +247,9 @@ static bool ga_open_pidfile(const char *pidfile)
     pidfd = open(pidfile, O_CREAT|O_WRONLY, S_IRUSR|S_IWUSR);
     if (pidfd == -1 || lockf(pidfd, F_TLOCK, 0)) {
         g_critical("Cannot lock pid file, %s", strerror(errno));
+        if (pidfd != -1) {
+            close(pidfd);
+        }
         return false;
     }