diff --git a/Doc/library/asyncore.rst b/Doc/library/asyncore.rst
--- a/Doc/library/asyncore.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/asyncore.rst
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@
 
    .. method:: handle_read()
 
-      Called when the asynchronous loop detects that a :meth:`read` call on the
+      Called when the asynchronous loop detects that a :meth:`recv` call on the
       channel's socket will succeed.
 
 
@@ -134,7 +134,9 @@
 
    .. method:: handle_close()
 
-      Called when the socket is closed.
+      Called when the socket is closed by the remote end **and** :meth:`recv`
+      has been called, which should normally be done in :meth:`handle_read`.
+      Also called when an error condition has been met.
 
 
    .. method:: handle_error()
diff --git a/Lib/asyncore.py b/Lib/asyncore.py
--- a/Lib/asyncore.py
+++ b/Lib/asyncore.py
@@ -500,6 +500,9 @@
 
     def handle_read(self):
         self.log_info('unhandled read event', 'warning')
+        # call recv() to have handle_close() be called when the remote end
+        # closes the connection
+        self.recv(1)
 
     def handle_write(self):
         self.log_info('unhandled write event', 'warning')
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py b/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py
@@ -302,7 +302,6 @@
         try:
             sys.stdout = fp
             d.handle_expt()
-            d.handle_read()
             d.handle_write()
             d.handle_connect()
         finally:
@@ -310,7 +309,6 @@
 
         lines = fp.getvalue().splitlines()
         expected = ['warning: unhandled incoming priority event',
-                    'warning: unhandled read event',
                     'warning: unhandled write event',
                     'warning: unhandled connect event']
         self.assertEqual(lines, expected)
@@ -664,6 +662,35 @@
         client = TestClient(self.family, server.address)
         self.loop_waiting_for_flag(client)
 
+    def test_handle_close_without_handle_read(self):
+        # Check that handle_close is called when the remote closes the socket,
+        # even when the dispatcher subclass has missed to implement
+        # handle_read.
+
+        data = b'\0' * 128
+
+        class TestClient(BaseClient):
+
+            def handle_connect(self):
+                self.send(data)
+
+            def handle_close(self):
+                self.flag = True
+                self.close()
+
+        class TestHandler(BaseTestHandler):
+
+            def handle_read(self):
+                self.recv(len(data))
+                self.close()
+
+            def writable(self):
+                return False
+
+        server = BaseServer(self.family, self.addr, TestHandler)
+        client = TestClient(self.family, server.address)
+        self.loop_waiting_for_flag(client)
+
     @unittest.skipIf(sys.platform.startswith("sunos"),
                      "OOB support is broken on Solaris")
     def test_handle_expt(self):