diff --git a/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go b/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
index f027c5944..3d7571c0d 100644
--- a/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
+++ b/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ func (p *Provisioner) Provision(ui packer.Ui, comm packer.Communicator) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("Error opening shell script: %s", err)
 		}
+		defer f.Close()
 
 		log.Printf("Uploading %s => %s", path, p.config.RemotePath)
 		err = comm.Upload(p.config.RemotePath, f)
@@ -172,6 +173,9 @@ func (p *Provisioner) Provision(ui packer.Ui, comm packer.Communicator) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("Error uploading shell script: %s", err)
 		}
 
+		// Close the original file since we copied it
+		f.Close()
+
 		// Flatten the environment variables
 		flattendVars := strings.Join(p.config.Vars, " ")