diff --git a/Lib/logging/handlers.py b/Lib/logging/handlers.py
index 95e23a8b78b..93aa50ea832 100644
--- a/Lib/logging/handlers.py
+++ b/Lib/logging/handlers.py
@@ -882,6 +882,7 @@ def emit(self, record):
                 try:
                     self.socket.send(msg)
                 except socket.error:
+                    self.socket.close()
                     self._connect_unixsocket(self.address)
                     self.socket.send(msg)
             elif self.socktype == socket.SOCK_DGRAM:
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index d6c151ff8f5..251804dd526 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #17981: Closed socket on error in SysLogHandler.
+
 - Fix typos in the multiprocessing module.
 
 - Issue #17754: Make ctypes.util.find_library() independent of the locale.