diff --git a/proxy/ProxyClientSession.cc b/proxy/ProxyClientSession.cc
index c4fba5bfef5..42f4f3bb1c1 100644
--- a/proxy/ProxyClientSession.cc
+++ b/proxy/ProxyClientSession.cc
@@ -198,10 +198,6 @@ ProxyClientSession::handle_api_return(int event)
     }
     break;
   case TS_HTTP_SSN_CLOSE_HOOK: {
-    NetVConnection *vc = this->get_netvc();
-    if (vc) {
-      vc->do_io_close();
-    }
     free(); // You can now clean things up
     break;
   }
diff --git a/proxy/http/Http1ClientSession.cc b/proxy/http/Http1ClientSession.cc
index 31ed45dec0a..4865886a2c7 100644
--- a/proxy/http/Http1ClientSession.cc
+++ b/proxy/http/Http1ClientSession.cc
@@ -135,6 +135,11 @@ Http1ClientSession::free()
   // Free the transaction resources
   this->trans.super_type::destroy();
 
+  if (client_vc) {
+    client_vc->do_io_close();
+    client_vc = nullptr;
+  }
+
   super::free();
   THREAD_FREE(this, http1ClientSessionAllocator, this_thread());
 }