diff --git a/java/tools/src/java/org/apache/orc/tools/convert/ConvertTool.java b/java/tools/src/java/org/apache/orc/tools/convert/ConvertTool.java
index 585a43fe6a..fbdb8696de 100644
--- a/java/tools/src/java/org/apache/orc/tools/convert/ConvertTool.java
+++ b/java/tools/src/java/org/apache/orc/tools/convert/ConvertTool.java
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ TypeDescription buildSchema(List<FileInformation> files,
         Reader reader = OrcFile.createReader(file.path,
             OrcFile.readerOptions(conf)
                 .filesystem(file.filesystem));
+        reader.close();
         if (files.size() == 1) {
           return reader.getSchema();
         }