diff --git a/evdns.c b/evdns.c
index fd72e622..1248d2ae 100644
--- a/evdns.c
+++ b/evdns.c
@@ -2372,6 +2372,7 @@ _evdns_nameserver_add_impl(struct evdns_base *base, const struct sockaddr *addre
 
 	ns->socket = socket(PF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM, 0);
 	if (ns->socket < 0) { err = 1; goto out1; }
+	evutil_make_socket_closeonexec(ns->socket);
 	evutil_make_socket_nonblocking(ns->socket);
 
 	if (base->global_outgoing_addrlen &&