diff --git a/patches/nginx-1.17.1-reuseport_close_unused_fds.patch b/patches/nginx-1.17.1-reuseport_close_unused_fds.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff4a36f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/patches/nginx-1.17.1-reuseport_close_unused_fds.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+diff --git a/src/core/ngx_connection.c b/src/core/ngx_connection.c
+--- a/src/core/ngx_connection.c
++++ b/src/core/ngx_connection.c
+@@ -1118,6 +1118,12 @@ ngx_close_listening_sockets(ngx_cycle_t *cycle)
+     ls = cycle->listening.elts;
+     for (i = 0; i < cycle->listening.nelts; i++) {
+ 
++#if (NGX_HAVE_REUSEPORT)
++        if (ls[i].fd == (ngx_socket_t) -1) {
++            continue;
++        }
++#endif
++
+         c = ls[i].connection;
+ 
+         if (c) {
+diff --git a/src/event/ngx_event.c b/src/event/ngx_event.c
+--- a/src/event/ngx_event.c
++++ b/src/event/ngx_event.c
+@@ -775,6 +775,18 @@ ngx_event_process_init(ngx_cycle_t *cycle)
+ 
+ #if (NGX_HAVE_REUSEPORT)
+         if (ls[i].reuseport && ls[i].worker != ngx_worker) {
++            ngx_log_debug2(NGX_LOG_DEBUG_CORE, cycle->log, 0,
++                           "closing unused fd:%d listening on %V",
++                           ls[i].fd, &ls[i].addr_text);
++
++            if (ngx_close_socket(ls[i].fd) == -1) {
++                ngx_log_error(NGX_LOG_EMERG, cycle->log, ngx_socket_errno,
++                              ngx_close_socket_n " %V failed",
++                              &ls[i].addr_text);
++            }
++
++            ls[i].fd = (ngx_socket_t) -1;
++
+             continue;
+         }
+ #endif
diff --git a/t/002-reuseport-close-unused-fds.t b/t/002-reuseport-close-unused-fds.t
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a0290cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/002-reuseport-close-unused-fds.t
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+# vim:set ft= ts=4 sw=4 et fdm=marker:
+
+use Test::Nginx::Socket::Lua;
+
+master_on();
+workers(2);
+log_level('debug');
+
+repeat_each(1);
+
+plan tests => repeat_each() * (blocks() * 3);
+
+no_long_string();
+
+run_tests();
+
+__DATA__
+
+=== TEST 1: closes unused file descriptors when 'reuseport' is enabled
+--- http_config
+    server {
+        listen 127.0.0.1:12345 reuseport;
+    }
+--- config
+    location /t {
+        return 200;
+    }
+--- request
+GET /t
+--- ignore_response_body
+--- no_error_log
+[error]
+--- grep_error_log eval: qr/\[debug\] .*? closing unused fd:\d+ listening on 127\.0\.0\.1:12345/
+--- grep_error_log_out eval
+qr/\[debug\] .*? closing unused fd:\d+ listening on 127\.0\.0\.1:12345
+\[debug\] .*? closing unused fd:\d+ listening on 127\.0\.0\.1:12345
+/
+
+
+
+=== TEST 2: closes multiple unused file descriptors when 'reuseport' is enabled
+--- http_config
+    server {
+        listen 127.0.0.1:12345 reuseport;
+    }
+
+    server {
+        listen 127.0.0.2:12345 reuseport;
+    }
+--- config
+    location /t {
+        return 200;
+    }
+--- request
+GET /t
+--- ignore_response_body
+--- no_error_log
+[error]
+--- grep_error_log eval: qr/\[debug\] .*? closing unused fd:\d+ listening on 127\.0\.0\.\d+:12345/
+--- grep_error_log_out eval
+qr/\[debug\] .*? closing unused fd:\d+ listening on 127\.0\.0\.1:12345
+\[debug\] .*? closing unused fd:\d+ listening on 127\.0\.0\.2:12345
+\[debug\] .*? closing unused fd:\d+ listening on 127\.0\.0\.1:12345
+\[debug\] .*? closing unused fd:\d+ listening on 127\.0\.0\.2:12345
+/
+
+
+
+=== TEST 3: does not close any fd if 'reuseport' is not used
+--- http_config
+    server {
+        listen 127.0.0.1:12345;
+    }
+--- config
+    location /t {
+        return 200;
+    }
+--- request
+GET /t
+--- ignore_response_body
+--- no_error_log
+[error]
+closing unused fd
diff --git a/util/mirror-tarballs b/util/mirror-tarballs
index cb6bb9b..8c08c91 100755
--- a/util/mirror-tarballs
+++ b/util/mirror-tarballs
@@ -437,6 +437,10 @@ echo "$info_txt applying the socket_cloexec patch for nginx"
 patch -p1 < $root/patches/nginx-$main_ver-socket_cloexec.patch || exit 1
 echo
 
+echo "$info_txt applying the reuseport_close_unused_fds patch for nginx"
+patch -p1 < $root/patches/nginx-$main_ver-reuseport_close_unused_fds.patch || exit 1
+echo
+
 cp $root/html/index.html docs/html/ || exit 1
 cp $root/html/50x.html docs/html/ || exit 1