diff --git a/core/lib/FileHandling/FFStream.cpp b/core/lib/FileHandling/FFStream.cpp
index cc9bfa140..2b6d2769c 100644
--- a/core/lib/FileHandling/FFStream.cpp
+++ b/core/lib/FileHandling/FFStream.cpp
@@ -114,7 +114,12 @@ namespace gnsstk
    void FFStream ::
    init( const char* fn, std::ios::openmode mode )
    {
-      close();
+      // close will fail if the stream is not currently open
+      // This will throw an exception is the fstream is set to
+      // throw exceptions on failures (exceptions(ifstream::failbit))
+      if(is_open())
+         close();
+
       clear();
       filename = std::string(fn);
       recordNumber = 0;