diff --git a/syft/source/source.go b/syft/source/source.go
index b0cb948e0ff..29cfa461082 100644
--- a/syft/source/source.go
+++ b/syft/source/source.go
@@ -385,11 +385,11 @@ func (s *Source) SetID() {
 	case FileScheme:
 		// attempt to use the digest of the contents of the file as the ID
 		file, err := os.Open(s.Metadata.Path)
-		defer file.Close()
 		if err != nil {
 			d = digest.FromString(s.Metadata.Path).String()
 			break
 		}
+		defer file.Close()
 		di, err := digest.FromReader(file)
 		if err != nil {
 			d = digest.FromString(s.Metadata.Path).String()