diff --git a/src/libsystemd/sd-bus/bus-container.c b/src/libsystemd/sd-bus/bus-container.c
index f09d5e7fd1..b11ebb3f65 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd/sd-bus/bus-container.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd/sd-bus/bus-container.c
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ int bus_container_connect_socket(sd_bus *b) {
 
         bus_socket_setup(b);
 
-        if (socketpair(AF_UNIX, SOCK_SEQPACKET, 0, pair) < 0)
+        if (socketpair(AF_UNIX, SOCK_SEQPACKET|SOCK_CLOEXEC, 0, pair) < 0)
                 return -errno;
 
         r = namespace_fork("(sd-buscntrns)", "(sd-buscntr)", NULL, 0, FORK_RESET_SIGNALS|FORK_DEATHSIG,