diff --git a/include/wx/unix/private/epolldispatcher.h b/include/wx/unix/private/epolldispatcher.h
index f76cf6e8d7..39bd3a27e5 100644
--- a/include/wx/unix/private/epolldispatcher.h
+++ b/include/wx/unix/private/epolldispatcher.h
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ public:
     // the caller should delete the returned pointer
     static wxEpollDispatcher *Create();
 
+    virtual ~wxEpollDispatcher();
+
     // implement base class pure virtual methods
     virtual bool RegisterFD(int fd, wxFDIOHandler* handler, int flags = wxFDIO_ALL);
     virtual bool ModifyFD(int fd, wxFDIOHandler* handler, int flags = wxFDIO_ALL);
diff --git a/src/unix/epolldispatcher.cpp b/src/unix/epolldispatcher.cpp
index a8cb94910c..8df776cba1 100644
--- a/src/unix/epolldispatcher.cpp
+++ b/src/unix/epolldispatcher.cpp
@@ -92,6 +92,14 @@ wxEpollDispatcher::wxEpollDispatcher(int epollDescriptor)
     m_epollDescriptor = epollDescriptor;
 }
 
+wxEpollDispatcher::~wxEpollDispatcher()
+{
+    if ( close(m_epollDescriptor) != 0 )
+    {
+        wxLogSysError(_("Error closing epoll descriptor"));
+    }
+}
+
 bool wxEpollDispatcher::RegisterFD(int fd, wxFDIOHandler* handler, int flags)
 {
     epoll_event ev;