diff --git a/embed/etcd.go b/embed/etcd.go
index 4d23a04009c3..22232314b3ce 100644
--- a/embed/etcd.go
+++ b/embed/etcd.go
@@ -127,6 +127,11 @@ func StartEtcd(inCfg *Config) (e *Etcd, err error) {
 	}
 
 	if e.Server, err = etcdserver.NewServer(srvcfg); err != nil {
+		// errored before starting gRPC server and
+		// sending to e.sctxs[~].serveCtx.grpcServerC
+		for _, sctx := range e.sctxs {
+			close(sctx.grpcServerC)
+		}
 		return
 	}