diff --git a/linkcheck/httplib2.py b/linkcheck/httplib2.py
index 72f983ba..fe217138 100644
--- a/linkcheck/httplib2.py
+++ b/linkcheck/httplib2.py
@@ -888,8 +888,8 @@ class HTTPConnection:
         self.__state = _CS_IDLE
 
         if response.will_close:
-            # this effectively passes the connection to the response
-            self.close()
+            # Pass the socket to the response
+            self.sock = None
         else:
             # remember this, so we can tell when it is complete
             self.__response = response