diff --git a/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/auth/ldap/LdapAuthBackend.java b/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/auth/ldap/LdapAuthBackend.java
index cf68a8bc39..eb6249c3bf 100644
--- a/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/auth/ldap/LdapAuthBackend.java
+++ b/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/auth/ldap/LdapAuthBackend.java
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ public class LdapAuthBackend implements AuthBackend {
           // We found the user account, but we need to verify
           // the password matches it before we can continue.
           //
-          helper.authenticate(m.getDN(), req.getPassword());
+          helper.authenticate(m.getDN(), req.getPassword()).close();
         }
         return new AuthUser(new AuthUser.UUID(username), username);
       } finally {
diff --git a/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/auth/ldap/LdapRealm.java b/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/auth/ldap/LdapRealm.java
index 84b5277988..8bb481ca4a 100644
--- a/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/auth/ldap/LdapRealm.java
+++ b/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/auth/ldap/LdapRealm.java
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ public class LdapRealm implements Realm {
           // We found the user account, but we need to verify
           // the password matches it before we can continue.
           //
-          helper.authenticate(m.getDN(), who.getPassword());
+          helper.authenticate(m.getDN(), who.getPassword()).close();
         }
 
         who.setDisplayName(apply(schema.accountFullName, m));