diff --git a/Lib/ftplib.py b/Lib/ftplib.py
--- a/Lib/ftplib.py
+++ b/Lib/ftplib.py
@@ -343,19 +343,23 @@ class FTP:
             host, port = self.makepasv()
             conn = socket.create_connection((host, port), self.timeout,
                                             source_address=self.source_address)
-            if rest is not None:
-                self.sendcmd("REST %s" % rest)
-            resp = self.sendcmd(cmd)
-            # Some servers apparently send a 200 reply to
-            # a LIST or STOR command, before the 150 reply
-            # (and way before the 226 reply). This seems to
-            # be in violation of the protocol (which only allows
-            # 1xx or error messages for LIST), so we just discard
-            # this response.
-            if resp[0] == '2':
-                resp = self.getresp()
-            if resp[0] != '1':
-                raise error_reply(resp)
+            try:
+                if rest is not None:
+                    self.sendcmd("REST %s" % rest)
+                resp = self.sendcmd(cmd)
+                # Some servers apparently send a 200 reply to
+                # a LIST or STOR command, before the 150 reply
+                # (and way before the 226 reply). This seems to
+                # be in violation of the protocol (which only allows
+                # 1xx or error messages for LIST), so we just discard
+                # this response.
+                if resp[0] == '2':
+                    resp = self.getresp()
+                if resp[0] != '1':
+                    raise error_reply(resp)
+            except:
+                conn.close()
+                raise
         else:
             sock = self.makeport()
             if rest is not None:
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_urllib2net.py b/Lib/test/test_urllib2net.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_urllib2net.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_urllib2net.py
@@ -222,6 +222,7 @@ class OtherNetworkTests(unittest.TestCas
         handlers = []
 
         cfh = urllib.request.CacheFTPHandler()
+        self.addCleanup(cfh.clear_cache)
         cfh.setTimeout(1)
         handlers.append(cfh)
 
diff --git a/Lib/urllib/request.py b/Lib/urllib/request.py
--- a/Lib/urllib/request.py
+++ b/Lib/urllib/request.py
@@ -1317,6 +1317,8 @@ def _safe_gethostbyname(host):
         return None
 
 class FTPHandler(BaseHandler):
+    _close_after_retr = True
+
     def ftp_open(self, req):
         import ftplib
         import mimetypes
@@ -1357,7 +1359,7 @@ class FTPHandler(BaseHandler):
                 if attr.lower() == 'type' and \
                    value in ('a', 'A', 'i', 'I', 'd', 'D'):
                     type = value.upper()
-            fp, retrlen = fw.retrfile(file, type)
+            fp, retrlen = fw.retrfile(file, type, close=self._close_after_retr)
             headers = ""
             mtype = mimetypes.guess_type(req.full_url)[0]
             if mtype:
@@ -1375,6 +1377,8 @@ class FTPHandler(BaseHandler):
         return fw
 
 class CacheFTPHandler(FTPHandler):
+    _close_after_retr = False
+
     # XXX would be nice to have pluggable cache strategies
     # XXX this stuff is definitely not thread safe
     def __init__(self):
@@ -1421,6 +1425,12 @@ class CacheFTPHandler(FTPHandler):
                     break
             self.soonest = min(list(self.timeout.values()))
 
+    def clear_cache(self):
+        for conn in self.cache.values():
+            conn.close()
+        self.cache.clear()
+
+
 # Code move from the old urllib module
 
 MAXFTPCACHE = 10        # Trim the ftp cache beyond this size
@@ -2162,7 +2172,7 @@ class ftpwrapper:
         for dir in self.dirs:
             self.ftp.cwd(dir)
 
-    def retrfile(self, file, type):
+    def retrfile(self, file, type, close=False):
         import ftplib
         self.endtransfer()
         if type in ('d', 'D'): cmd = 'TYPE A'; isdir = 1
@@ -2201,7 +2211,11 @@ class ftpwrapper:
             conn, retrlen = self.ftp.ntransfercmd(cmd)
         self.busy = 1
 
-        ftpobj = addclosehook(conn.makefile('rb'), self.endtransfer)
+        if close:
+            close_func = self.close
+        else:
+            close_func = self.endtransfer
+        ftpobj = addclosehook(conn.makefile('rb'), close_func)
         conn.close()
         # Pass back both a suitably decorated object and a retrieval length
         return (ftpobj, retrlen)