diff --git a/cmd/hdfs/get.go b/cmd/hdfs/get.go
index d109bc4c..b8a66ee4 100644
--- a/cmd/hdfs/get.go
+++ b/cmd/hdfs/get.go
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ func getmerge(args []string, addNewlines bool) {
 	if err != nil {
 		fatal(err)
 	}
+	defer local.Close()
 
 	source := sources[0]
 	children, err := client.ReadDir(source)