diff --git a/Lib/httplib.py b/Lib/httplib.py
index 8dbe8a07e41..dca9eca7774 100644
--- a/Lib/httplib.py
+++ b/Lib/httplib.py
@@ -530,7 +530,8 @@ def read(self, amt=None):
         s = self.fp.read(amt)
         if self.length is not None:
             self.length -= len(s)
-
+            if not self.length:
+                self.close()
         return s
 
     def _read_chunked(self, amt):
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_httplib.py b/Lib/test/test_httplib.py
index 36d6f7d7533..6a20c6b81d2 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_httplib.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_httplib.py
@@ -81,13 +81,25 @@ def test_status_lines(self):
         resp = httplib.HTTPResponse(sock)
         resp.begin()
         self.assertEqual(resp.read(), 'Text')
-        resp.close()
+        self.assertTrue(resp.isclosed())
 
         body = "HTTP/1.1 400.100 Not Ok\r\n\r\nText"
         sock = FakeSocket(body)
         resp = httplib.HTTPResponse(sock)
         self.assertRaises(httplib.BadStatusLine, resp.begin)
 
+    def test_partial_reads(self):
+        # if we have a lenght, the system knows when to close itself
+        # same behaviour than when we read the whole thing with read()
+        body = "HTTP/1.1 200 Ok\r\nContent-Length: 4\r\n\r\nText"
+        sock = FakeSocket(body)
+        resp = httplib.HTTPResponse(sock)
+        resp.begin()
+        self.assertEqual(resp.read(2), 'Te')
+        self.assertFalse(resp.isclosed())
+        self.assertEqual(resp.read(2), 'xt')
+        self.assertTrue(resp.isclosed())
+
     def test_host_port(self):
         # Check invalid host_port
 
@@ -133,7 +145,6 @@ def test_read_head(self):
         resp.begin()
         if resp.read() != "":
             self.fail("Did not expect response from HEAD request")
-        resp.close()
 
     def test_send_file(self):
         expected = 'GET /foo HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: example.com\r\n' \