diff --git a/src/NCDatasets.jl b/src/NCDatasets.jl
index 81b7978f..d14ccecb 100644
--- a/src/NCDatasets.jl
+++ b/src/NCDatasets.jl
@@ -388,7 +388,12 @@ end
 
 function Dataset(f::Function,args...; kwargs...)
     ds = Dataset(args...; kwargs...)
-    f(ds)
+    try
+        f(ds)
+    catch
+        close(ds)
+        rethrow()
+    end
     close(ds)
 end