diff --git a/libscio.hpp b/libscio.hpp
index 8a98aa2..0d7ecb4 100644
--- a/libscio.hpp
+++ b/libscio.hpp
@@ -149,6 +149,8 @@ namespace sc {
 
 				// cleanup: socketstream is RAII class for open socket
 				virtual ~socketstream();
+				bool is_open() { return _iobuf.fd() != -1; }
+				void close();
 
 				// server
 				void make_server(const socket_address& sa);
diff --git a/socketstream.cpp b/socketstream.cpp
index 54a32e1..597f5a2 100644
--- a/socketstream.cpp
+++ b/socketstream.cpp
@@ -53,8 +53,13 @@ socketstream& socketstream::operator=(socketstream&& other) {
 }
 
 socketstream::~socketstream() {
+	close();
+}
+
+void socketstream::close() {
 	if (_iobuf.fd() != -1) {
 		::close(_iobuf.fd());
+		_iobuf.fd(-1);
 	}
 }