diff --git a/src/hotspot/os/linux/cgroupSubsystem_linux.cpp b/src/hotspot/os/linux/cgroupSubsystem_linux.cpp
index a6e96b76ca3..5ba422948ee 100644
--- a/src/hotspot/os/linux/cgroupSubsystem_linux.cpp
+++ b/src/hotspot/os/linux/cgroupSubsystem_linux.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2019, 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2019, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -297,6 +297,7 @@ bool CgroupSubsystemFactory::determine_type(CgroupInfo* cg_infos,
     } else {
       log_debug(os, container)("Can't read %s, %s", controllers_file, os::strerror(errno));
       *flags = INVALID_CGROUPS_V2;
+      fclose(controllers);
       return false;
     }
     for (int i = 0; i < CG_INFO_LENGTH; i++) {