diff --git a/src/emc/canterp/canterp.cc b/src/emc/canterp/canterp.cc
index e57cb8193a9..59935a81734 100644
--- a/src/emc/canterp/canterp.cc
+++ b/src/emc/canterp/canterp.cc
@@ -703,6 +703,10 @@ int Canterp::open(const char *newfilename) {
 }
 
 int Canterp::close() {
+    if (f) {
+        fclose(f);
+        f = (FILE*) nullptr;
+    }
     return INTERP_OK;
 }