diff --git a/tornado/test/websocket_test.py b/tornado/test/websocket_test.py
index f90c5f2c0f..0a29ae6460 100644
--- a/tornado/test/websocket_test.py
+++ b/tornado/test/websocket_test.py
@@ -807,6 +807,7 @@ def test_client_ping(self):
             response = yield ws.read_message()
             self.assertEqual(response, "got ping")
         # TODO: test that the connection gets closed if ping responses stop.
+        ws.close()
 
 
 class ManualPingTest(WebSocketBaseTestCase):