diff --git a/httplib.h b/httplib.h
index 282a1b05..572531b0 100644
--- a/httplib.h
+++ b/httplib.h
@@ -13432,8 +13432,14 @@ inline bool Server::listen_internal() {
         } else if (errno == EINTR || errno == EAGAIN) {
           continue;
         }
-        if (svr_sock_ != INVALID_SOCKET) {
-          detail::close_socket(svr_sock_);
+        // Take the descriptor out of svr_sock_ before closing it: a later
+        // stop() would otherwise shutdown()/close() a value the OS may have
+        // reused, and keep_alive() watches svr_sock_ to notice the server is
+        // gone. The exchange also settles the race with a concurrent stop(),
+        // since whichever side takes the descriptor closes it exactly once.
+        auto listen_sock = svr_sock_.exchange(INVALID_SOCKET);
+        if (listen_sock != INVALID_SOCKET) {
+          detail::close_socket(listen_sock);
           ret = false;
           output_error_log(Error::Connection, nullptr);
         } else {