diff --git a/darshan-runtime/lib/darshan-core.c b/darshan-runtime/lib/darshan-core.c
index 9d8c0fdace946365b1c2a59180e10b08451ab360..534967b472327a38b2cd98c89315a39139351b0c 100644
--- a/darshan-runtime/lib/darshan-core.c
+++ b/darshan-runtime/lib/darshan-core.c
@@ -1083,10 +1083,10 @@ static void darshan_get_exe_and_mounts(struct darshan_core_runtime *core,
                   ii = 0;
                 }
             }
+            fclose(fh);
         } else {
            sprintf(cmdl, " <unknown args>");
         }
-        fclose(fh);
         strncat(core->log_exemnt_p, cmdl, space_left);
         space_left = DARSHAN_EXE_LEN-strlen(core->log_exemnt_p);
     }