diff --git a/libs/pbd/clear_dir.cc b/libs/pbd/clear_dir.cc
index 9d2d7ed883..cbf73bc7d7 100644
--- a/libs/pbd/clear_dir.cc
+++ b/libs/pbd/clear_dir.cc
@@ -128,4 +128,5 @@ PBD::remove_directory (const std::string& dir) {
 	if (::g_rmdir(dir.c_str())) {
 		error << string_compose (_("cannot remove directory %1 (%2)"), dir, strerror (errno)) << endmsg;
 	}
+	::closedir (dead);
 }