diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2022-11-03-08-10-49.gh-issue-98872.gdsR8X.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2022-11-03-08-10-49.gh-issue-98872.gdsR8X.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..ad4dc496ee0e6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2022-11-03-08-10-49.gh-issue-98872.gdsR8X.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix a possible fd leak in ``Programs/_freeze_module.c`` introduced in Python 3.11.
diff --git a/Programs/_freeze_module.c b/Programs/_freeze_module.c
index 3d27b79c237c36..7c4d60a500d638 100644
--- a/Programs/_freeze_module.c
+++ b/Programs/_freeze_module.c
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@ write_frozen(const char *outpath, const char *inpath, const char *name,
 
     if (ferror(outfile)) {
         fprintf(stderr, "error when writing to '%s'\n", outpath);
+        fclose(outfile);
         return -1;
     }
     fclose(outfile);