diff --git a/helpers.c b/helpers.c
index 78bd4c18..d6fe4907 100644
--- a/helpers.c
+++ b/helpers.c
@@ -552,9 +552,11 @@ int run_interactive(char *cmd, char *fmt, ...)
 			len     = fread(line, 1, sizeof(line), fp);
 			written = fwrite(line, len, sizeof(char), stderr);
 		} while (len > 0 && written == len);
-		fclose(fp);
 	}
 
+	if (fp)
+		fclose(fp);
+
 	return status;
 }