diff --git a/src/exec.cpp b/src/exec.cpp
index 119553f03..aba8d6378 100644
--- a/src/exec.cpp
+++ b/src/exec.cpp
@@ -1093,7 +1093,6 @@ bool exec_job(parser_t &parser, const shared_ptr<job_t> &j, const io_chain_t &bl
         }
         procs_launched += 1;
     }
-    pipe_next_read.close();
 
     // If our pipeline was aborted before any process was successfully launched, then there is
     // nothing to reap, and we can perform an early return.