diff --git a/tiledb/cc/group.cc b/tiledb/cc/group.cc
index abcb9d17cc..8bca63c026 100644
--- a/tiledb/cc/group.cc
+++ b/tiledb/cc/group.cc
@@ -105,8 +105,11 @@ void init_group(py::module &m) {
       .def("_open", &Group::open)
       .def("_set_config", &Group::set_config)
       .def("_config", &Group::config)
+#if TILEDB_VERSION_MAJOR == 2 && TILEDB_VERSION_MINOR < 16
       .def("_close", &Group::close)
-
+#else
+      .def("_close", [](Group &self) { self.close(true); })
+#endif
       .def_property_readonly("_isopen", &Group::is_open)
       .def_property_readonly("_uri", &Group::uri)
       .def_property_readonly("_query_type", &Group::query_type)