diff --git a/src/common/pcap-writer.cc b/src/common/pcap-writer.cc
index 121802215..a476b0734 100644
--- a/src/common/pcap-writer.cc
+++ b/src/common/pcap-writer.cc
@@ -46,7 +46,12 @@ PcapWriter::PcapWriter ()
 
 PcapWriter::~PcapWriter ()
 {
+  if (m_writer != 0)
+    {
+      m_writer->close ();
+    }
   delete m_writer;
+  m_writer = 0;
 }
 
 void