diff --git a/CHANGELOG.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG.asciidoc
index 8e446aadf709..7c28c5da9e9e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.asciidoc
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ https://github.com/elastic/beats/compare/v1.3.0...1.3[Check the HEAD diff]
 
 *Filebeat*
 
+- Fix open file handler issue {issue}2028[2028]
+
 *Winlogbeat*
 
 ==== Added
diff --git a/filebeat/harvester/log.go b/filebeat/harvester/log.go
index fdc3f590e668..4681aa0ce068 100644
--- a/filebeat/harvester/log.go
+++ b/filebeat/harvester/log.go
@@ -227,25 +227,31 @@ func (h *Harvester) openFile() (encoding.Encoding, error) {
 	var encoding encoding.Encoding
 
 	file, err = input.ReadOpen(h.Path)
-	if err == nil {
-		// Check we are not following a rabbit hole (symlinks, etc.)
-		if !input.IsRegularFile(file) {
-			return nil, errors.New("Given file is not a regular file.")
-		}
+	if err != nil {
+		logp.Err("Failed opening %s: %s", h.Path, err)
+		return nil, err
+	}
 
-		encoding, err = h.encoding(file)
+	// Closes file handler in case of follow up error
+	defer func() {
 		if err != nil {
-
-			if err == transform.ErrShortSrc {
-				logp.Info("Initialising encoding for '%v' failed due to file being too short", file)
-			} else {
-				logp.Err("Initialising encoding for '%v' failed: %v", file, err)
-			}
-			return nil, err
+			file.Close()
 		}
+	}()
 
-	} else {
-		logp.Err("Failed opening %s: %s", h.Path, err)
+	// Check we are not following a rabbit hole (symlinks, etc.)
+	if !input.IsRegularFile(file) {
+		return nil, errors.New("Given file is not a regular file.")
+	}
+
+	encoding, err = h.encoding(file)
+	if err != nil {
+
+		if err == transform.ErrShortSrc {
+			logp.Info("Initialising encoding for '%v' failed due to file being too short", file)
+		} else {
+			logp.Err("Initialising encoding for '%v' failed: %v", file, err)
+		}
 		return nil, err
 	}