diff --git a/lib/mysql/connector/connection.py b/lib/mysql/connector/connection.py
index 2fb72401..c40ff8ef 100644
--- a/lib/mysql/connector/connection.py
+++ b/lib/mysql/connector/connection.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-# Copyright (c) 2009, 2018, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2009, 2018, 2019 Oracle and/or its affiliates. 
+# All rights reserved.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2.0, as
@@ -399,6 +400,8 @@ def _handle_load_data_infile(self, filename):
         """Handle a LOAD DATA INFILE LOCAL request"""
         try:
             data_file = open(filename, 'rb')
+            return self._handle_ok(self._send_data(data_file,
+                                               send_empty_packet=True))
         except IOError:
             # Send a empty packet to cancel the operation
             try:
@@ -408,9 +411,13 @@ def _handle_load_data_infile(self, filename):
                     "MySQL Connection not available.")
             raise errors.InterfaceError(
                 "File '{0}' could not be read".format(filename))
+        finally:
+            try:
+                data_file.close()
+            except IOError, NameError:
+                # don't worry if the file was never opened
+                pass
 
-        return self._handle_ok(self._send_data(data_file,
-                                               send_empty_packet=True))
 
     def _handle_result(self, packet):
         """Handle a MySQL Result