diff --git a/module/sock/posix/posix.c b/module/sock/posix/posix.c
index 1e3c49449..c4ce544cb 100644
--- a/module/sock/posix/posix.c
+++ b/module/sock/posix/posix.c
@@ -422,14 +422,15 @@ static int
 spdk_posix_sock_close(struct spdk_sock *_sock)
 {
 	struct spdk_posix_sock *sock = __posix_sock(_sock);
-	int rc;
 
-	rc = close(sock->fd);
-	if (rc == 0) {
-		free(sock);
-	}
+	/* If the socket fails to close, the best choice is to
+	 * leak the fd but continue to free the rest of the sock
+	 * memory. */
+	close(sock->fd);
 
-	return rc;
+	free(sock);
+
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static ssize_t