diff --git a/src/modules/niri/backend.cpp b/src/modules/niri/backend.cpp
index 68bb1724..c23aaa47 100644
--- a/src/modules/niri/backend.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/niri/backend.cpp
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <thread>
 
+#include "util/scoped_fd.hpp"
 #include "giomm/datainputstream.h"
 #include "giomm/dataoutputstream.h"
 #include "giomm/unixinputstream.h"
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ int IPC::connectToSocket() {
   }
 
   struct sockaddr_un addr;
-  int socketfd = socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+  util::ScopedFd socketfd(socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0));
 
   if (socketfd == -1) {
     throw std::runtime_error("socketfd failed");
@@ -45,11 +46,10 @@ int IPC::connectToSocket() {
   int l = sizeof(struct sockaddr_un);
 
   if (connect(socketfd, (struct sockaddr*)&addr, l) == -1) {
-    close(socketfd);
     throw std::runtime_error("unable to connect");
   }
 
-  return socketfd;
+  return socketfd.release();
 }
 
 void IPC::startIPC() {
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ void IPC::unregisterForIPC(EventHandler* ev_handler) {
 }
 
 Json::Value IPC::send(const Json::Value& request) {
-  int socketfd = connectToSocket();
+  util::ScopedFd socketfd(connectToSocket());
 
   auto unix_istream = Gio::UnixInputStream::create(socketfd, true);
   auto unix_ostream = Gio::UnixOutputStream::create(socketfd, false);