diff --git a/src/main/java/com/hierynomus/sshj/socket/Sockets.java b/src/main/java/com/hierynomus/sshj/socket/Sockets.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..945869f95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/hierynomus/sshj/socket/Sockets.java
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package com.hierynomus.sshj.socket;
+
+import java.io.Closeable;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.Socket;
+
+public class Sockets {
+
+    /**
+     * Java 7 and up have Socket implemented as Closeable, whereas Java6 did not have this inheritance.
+     * @param socket The socket to wrap as Closeable
+     * @return
+     */
+    public static Closeable asCloseable(final Socket socket) {
+        if (Closeable.class.isAssignableFrom(socket.getClass())) {
+            return Closeable.class.cast(socket);
+        } else {
+            return new Closeable() {
+                @Override
+                public void close() throws IOException {
+                    socket.close();
+                }
+            };
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/connection/channel/SocketStreamCopyMonitor.java b/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/connection/channel/SocketStreamCopyMonitor.java
index a6c524df5..be9fb7c14 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/connection/channel/SocketStreamCopyMonitor.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/connection/channel/SocketStreamCopyMonitor.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
  */
 package net.schmizz.sshj.connection.channel;
 
+import com.hierynomus.sshj.socket.Sockets;
 import net.schmizz.concurrent.Event;
 import net.schmizz.sshj.common.IOUtils;
 
@@ -23,6 +24,8 @@
 import java.net.Socket;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
+import static com.hierynomus.sshj.socket.Sockets.asCloseable;
+
 public class SocketStreamCopyMonitor
         extends Thread {
 
@@ -32,16 +35,6 @@ private SocketStreamCopyMonitor(Runnable r) {
         setDaemon(true);
     }
 
-    private static Closeable wrapSocket(final Socket socket) {
-        return new Closeable() {
-            @Override
-            public void close()
-                    throws IOException {
-                socket.close();
-            }
-        };
-    }
-
     public static void monitor(final int frequency, final TimeUnit unit,
                                final Event<IOException> x, final Event<IOException> y,
                                final Channel channel, final Socket socket) {
@@ -54,7 +47,7 @@ public void run() {
                     }
                 } catch (IOException ignored) {
                 } finally {
-                    IOUtils.closeQuietly(channel, wrapSocket(socket));
+                    IOUtils.closeQuietly(channel, asCloseable(socket));
                 }
             }
         }).start();
diff --git a/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/connection/channel/direct/LocalPortForwarder.java b/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/connection/channel/direct/LocalPortForwarder.java
index 9ea10bf51..0c0dfb824 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/connection/channel/direct/LocalPortForwarder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/connection/channel/direct/LocalPortForwarder.java
@@ -16,12 +16,12 @@
 package net.schmizz.sshj.connection.channel.direct;
 
 import net.schmizz.concurrent.Event;
+import net.schmizz.sshj.common.IOUtils;
 import net.schmizz.sshj.common.SSHPacket;
 import net.schmizz.sshj.common.StreamCopier;
 import net.schmizz.sshj.connection.Connection;
-import net.schmizz.sshj.connection.ConnectionException;
 import net.schmizz.sshj.connection.channel.SocketStreamCopyMonitor;
-import net.schmizz.sshj.transport.TransportException;
+
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
 import java.net.Socket;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
+import static com.hierynomus.sshj.socket.Sockets.asCloseable;
+
 public class LocalPortForwarder {
 
     public static class Parameters {
@@ -112,11 +114,15 @@ public LocalPortForwarder(Connection conn, Parameters parameters, ServerSocket s
         this.serverSocket = serverSocket;
     }
 
-    protected DirectTCPIPChannel openChannel(Socket socket)
-            throws TransportException, ConnectionException {
-        final DirectTCPIPChannel chan = new DirectTCPIPChannel(conn, socket, parameters);
-        chan.open();
-        return chan;
+    private void startChannel(Socket socket) throws IOException {
+        DirectTCPIPChannel chan = new DirectTCPIPChannel(conn, socket, parameters);
+        try {
+            chan.open();
+            chan.start();
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            IOUtils.closeQuietly(chan, asCloseable(socket));
+            throw e;
+        }
     }
 
     /**
@@ -130,7 +136,7 @@ public void listen()
         while (!Thread.currentThread().isInterrupted()) {
             final Socket socket = serverSocket.accept();
             log.debug("Got connection from {}", socket.getRemoteSocketAddress());
-            openChannel(socket).start();
+            startChannel(socket);
         }
         log.debug("Interrupted!");
     }