diff --git a/lib/readline/histfile.c b/lib/readline/histfile.c
index dc64bde..a8a92aa 100644
--- a/lib/readline/histfile.c
+++ b/lib/readline/histfile.c
@@ -305,6 +305,7 @@ read_history_range (const char *filename, int from, int to)
   if (file_size == 0)
     {
       free (input);
+      close (file);
       return 0;	/* don't waste time if we don't have to */
     }
 
diff --git a/patchlevel.h b/patchlevel.h
index 16c8740..02f1d60 100644
--- a/patchlevel.h
+++ b/patchlevel.h
@@ -25,6 +25,6 @@
    regexp `^#define[ 	]*PATCHLEVEL', since that's what support/mkversion.sh
    looks for to find the patch level (for the sccs version string). */
 
-#define PATCHLEVEL 8
+#define PATCHLEVEL 9
 
 #endif /* _PATCHLEVEL_H_ */