diff --git a/src/pkg/net/http/transport.go b/src/pkg/net/http/transport.go
index 6efe191eb0b..485aff89790 100644
--- a/src/pkg/net/http/transport.go
+++ b/src/pkg/net/http/transport.go
@@ -603,6 +603,10 @@ func (pc *persistConn) readLoop() {
 		// before we race and peek on the underlying bufio reader.
 		if waitForBodyRead != nil {
 			<-waitForBodyRead
+		} else if !alive {
+			// If waitForBodyRead is nil, and we're not alive, we
+			// must close the connection before we leave the loop.
+			pc.close()
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/pkg/net/http/transport_test.go b/src/pkg/net/http/transport_test.go
index a9e401de58d..ebf4a8102d7 100644
--- a/src/pkg/net/http/transport_test.go
+++ b/src/pkg/net/http/transport_test.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"net"
 	. "net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"net/url"
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"runtime"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -35,6 +37,64 @@ var hostPortHandler = HandlerFunc(func(w ResponseWriter, r *Request) {
 	w.Write([]byte(r.RemoteAddr))
 })
 
+type testCloseConn struct {
+	net.Conn
+	set *testConnSet
+}
+
+func (conn *testCloseConn) Close() error {
+	conn.set.remove(conn)
+	return conn.Conn.Close()
+}
+
+type testConnSet struct {
+	set   map[net.Conn]bool
+	mutex sync.Mutex
+}
+
+func (tcs *testConnSet) insert(c net.Conn) {
+	tcs.mutex.Lock()
+	defer tcs.mutex.Unlock()
+	tcs.set[c] = true
+}
+
+func (tcs *testConnSet) remove(c net.Conn) {
+	tcs.mutex.Lock()
+	defer tcs.mutex.Unlock()
+	// just change to false, so we have a full set of opened connections
+	tcs.set[c] = false
+}
+
+// some tests use this to manage raw tcp connections for later inspection
+func makeTestDial() (*testConnSet, func(n, addr string) (net.Conn, error)) {
+	connSet := &testConnSet{
+		set: make(map[net.Conn]bool),
+	}
+	dial := func(n, addr string) (net.Conn, error) {
+		c, err := net.Dial(n, addr)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		tc := &testCloseConn{c, connSet}
+		connSet.insert(tc)
+		return tc, nil
+	}
+	return connSet, dial
+}
+
+func (tcs *testConnSet) countClosed() (closed, total int) {
+	tcs.mutex.Lock()
+	defer tcs.mutex.Unlock()
+
+	total = len(tcs.set)
+	for _, open := range tcs.set {
+		if !open {
+			closed += 1
+		}
+	}
+	return
+}
+
 // Two subsequent requests and verify their response is the same.
 // The response from the server is our own IP:port
 func TestTransportKeepAlives(t *testing.T) {
@@ -72,8 +132,12 @@ func TestTransportConnectionCloseOnResponse(t *testing.T) {
 	ts := httptest.NewServer(hostPortHandler)
 	defer ts.Close()
 
+	connSet, testDial := makeTestDial()
+
 	for _, connectionClose := range []bool{false, true} {
-		tr := &Transport{}
+		tr := &Transport{
+			Dial: testDial,
+		}
 		c := &Client{Transport: tr}
 
 		fetch := func(n int) string {
@@ -107,6 +171,13 @@ func TestTransportConnectionCloseOnResponse(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Errorf("error in connectionClose=%v. unexpected bodiesDiffer=%v; body1=%q; body2=%q",
 				connectionClose, bodiesDiffer, body1, body2)
 		}
+
+		tr.CloseIdleConnections()
+	}
+
+	closed, total := connSet.countClosed()
+	if closed < total {
+		t.Errorf("%d out of %d tcp connections were not closed", total-closed, total)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -114,8 +185,12 @@ func TestTransportConnectionCloseOnRequest(t *testing.T) {
 	ts := httptest.NewServer(hostPortHandler)
 	defer ts.Close()
 
+	connSet, testDial := makeTestDial()
+
 	for _, connectionClose := range []bool{false, true} {
-		tr := &Transport{}
+		tr := &Transport{
+			Dial: testDial,
+		}
 		c := &Client{Transport: tr}
 
 		fetch := func(n int) string {
@@ -149,6 +224,13 @@ func TestTransportConnectionCloseOnRequest(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Errorf("error in connectionClose=%v. unexpected bodiesDiffer=%v; body1=%q; body2=%q",
 				connectionClose, bodiesDiffer, body1, body2)
 		}
+
+		tr.CloseIdleConnections()
+	}
+
+	closed, total := connSet.countClosed()
+	if closed < total {
+		t.Errorf("%d out of %d tcp connections were not closed", total-closed, total)
 	}
 }