diff -r c46ecdbd217d Lib/test/test_urllib2.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_urllib2.py	Fri May 20 20:27:54 2011 +0300
+++ b/Lib/test/test_urllib2.py	Sat May 21 15:31:33 2011 +0300
@@ -318,6 +318,9 @@
     def getresponse(self):
         return MockHTTPResponse(MockFile(), {}, 200, "OK")
 
+    def close(self):
+        pass
+
 class MockHandler:
     # useful for testing handler machinery
     # see add_ordered_mock_handlers() docstring
diff -r c46ecdbd217d Lib/urllib/request.py
--- a/Lib/urllib/request.py	Fri May 20 20:27:54 2011 +0300
+++ b/Lib/urllib/request.py	Sat May 21 15:31:33 2011 +0300
@@ -1146,6 +1146,8 @@
             r = h.getresponse()  # an HTTPResponse instance
         except socket.error as err:
             raise URLError(err)
+        finally:
+            h.close()
 
         r.url = req.get_full_url()
         # This line replaces the .msg attribute of the HTTPResponse