--- a/libinterp/dldfcn/audioread.cc	Fri Jan 09 13:50:25 2015 -0500
+++ b/libinterp/dldfcn/audioread.cc	Fri Jan 09 14:11:19 2015 -0500
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <map>
 
 #include "oct-locbuf.h"
+#include "unwind-prot.h"
 
 #include "defun-dld.h"
 #include "error.h"
@@ -40,6 +41,14 @@
 #include <sndfile.h>
 #endif
 
+#ifdef HAVE_SNDFILE
+static void
+safe_close (SNDFILE *file)
+{
+  sf_close (file);
+}
+#endif
+
 DEFUN_DLD (audioread, args, ,
   "-*- texinfo -*-\n\
 @deftypefn {Loadable Function} {[@var{y}, @var{fs}] =} audioread (@var{filename})\n\
@@ -83,6 +92,16 @@
   info.format = 0;
   SNDFILE *file = sf_open (filename.c_str (), SFM_READ, &info);
 
+  if (! file)
+    {
+      error ("audioread: failed to open input file %s", filename.c_str ());
+      return retval;
+    }
+
+  unwind_protect frame;
+
+  frame.add_fcn (safe_close, file);
+
   OCTAVE_LOCAL_BUFFER (float, data, info.frames * info.channels);
 
   sf_read_float (file, data, info.frames * info.channels);
@@ -363,16 +382,18 @@
         }
     }
 
-  const char *out = filename.c_str ();
-
-  SNDFILE *file = sf_open (out, SFM_WRITE, &info);
+  SNDFILE *file = sf_open (filename.c_str (), SFM_WRITE, &info);
 
   if (! file)
     {
-      error ("audiowrite: failed to open output file %s", out);
+      error ("audiowrite: failed to open output file %s", filename.c_str ());
       return retval;
     }
 
+  unwind_protect frame;
+
+  frame.add_fcn (safe_close, file);
+
   if (title != "")
     sf_set_string (file, SF_STR_TITLE, title.c_str ());
 
@@ -440,6 +461,16 @@
   info.format = 0;
   SNDFILE *file = sf_open (filename.c_str (), SFM_READ, &info);
 
+  if (! file)
+    {
+      error ("audioinfo: failed to open file %s", filename.c_str ());
+      return retval;
+    }
+
+  unwind_protect frame;
+
+  frame.add_fcn (safe_close, file);
+
   octave_scalar_map result;
 
   result.assign ("Filename", filename);