diff --git a/node_stream_zip.js b/node_stream_zip.js
index ce5667e..0a9af79 100644
--- a/node_stream_zip.js
+++ b/node_stream_zip.js
@@ -667,6 +667,7 @@ StreamZip.debugLog = (...args) => {
 util.inherits(StreamZip, events.EventEmitter);
 
 const propZip = Symbol('zip');
+const propZipInstance = Symbol('zipInstance');
 
 StreamZip.async = class StreamZipAsync extends events.EventEmitter {
     constructor(config) {
@@ -677,6 +678,7 @@ StreamZip.async = class StreamZipAsync extends events.EventEmitter {
         zip.on('entry', (entry) => this.emit('entry', entry));
         zip.on('extract', (entry, outPath) => this.emit('extract', entry, outPath));
 
+        this[propZipInstance] = zip;
         this[propZip] = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
             zip.on('ready', () => {
                 zip.removeListener('error', reject);
@@ -746,9 +748,9 @@ StreamZip.async = class StreamZipAsync extends events.EventEmitter {
     }
 
     async close() {
-        const zip = await this[propZip];
+        await this[propZip].catch(() => {});
         return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-            zip.close((err) => {
+            this[propZipInstance].close((err) => {
                 if (err) {
                     reject(err);
                 } else {
diff --git a/release-notes.md b/release-notes.md
index 9bb3b10..d2e5df6 100644
--- a/release-notes.md
+++ b/release-notes.md
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 Release notes
 -------------
+##### v1.16.1 (2026-09-15)
+`-` fix #96, #94: file handle leak in the async API when the archive could not be read  
+`*` async `close()` now resolves instead of rejecting when the archive could not be read, matching the callback API  
+
 ##### v1.16.0 (2026-07-22)
 `+` fixed reading compressed entry size to prevent exploitation reported by @DumDumSu  
 `*` updated dependencies  
diff --git a/test/tests.js b/test/tests.js
index a814b2e..97bc071 100644
--- a/test/tests.js
+++ b/test/tests.js
@@ -485,6 +485,32 @@ module.exports['async.entryData'] = async (test) => {
     test.done();
 };
 
+module.exports['async.close'] = async (test) => {
+    test.expect(2);
+    const fd = fs.openSync('test/ok/normal.zip', 'r');
+    const zip = new StreamZip.async({ fd });
+    test.equal(await zip.entriesCount, 10);
+    await zip.close();
+    test.throws(() => fs.fstatSync(fd), /EBADF/);
+    test.done();
+};
+
+module.exports['async.close on a bad archive'] = async (test) => {
+    test.expect(3);
+    const fd = fs.openSync('test/err/rar.rar', 'r');
+    const zip = new StreamZip.async({ fd });
+    try {
+        await zip.entries();
+        test.ok(false, 'Should throw an error');
+    } catch (e) {
+        test.equal(e.message, 'Bad archive');
+    }
+    test.ok(fs.fstatSync(fd));
+    await zip.close();
+    test.throws(() => fs.fstatSync(fd), /EBADF/);
+    test.done();
+};
+
 module.exports.setUp = function (done) {
     testPathTmp = basePathTmp + testNum++ + '/';
     if (!fs.existsSync(basePathTmp)) {