diff --git a/screed/openscreed.py b/screed/openscreed.py
index cd11db2..bd32d46 100644
--- a/screed/openscreed.py
+++ b/screed/openscreed.py
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ def open_reader(self, filename, *args, **kwargs):
         try:
             first_char = peek[0]
         except IndexError as err:
+            sequencefile.close()
             return []  # empty file
 
         try:
@@ -89,6 +90,7 @@ def open_reader(self, filename, *args, **kwargs):
             iter_fn = fastq_iter
 
         if iter_fn is None:
+            sequencefile.close()
             raise ValueError("unknown file format for '%s'" % filename)
 
         self.sequencefile = sequencefile