diff --git a/src/storage.cpp b/src/storage.cpp
index 041cbfb22..ecda9893a 100755
--- a/src/storage.cpp
+++ b/src/storage.cpp
@@ -146,6 +146,8 @@ namespace
 				{
 					// close the file before we open it with
 					// the new read/write privilages
+					i->file_ptr.reset();
+					assert(e.file_ptr.unique());
 					e.file_ptr.reset();
 					e.file_ptr.reset(new file(p, m));
 					e.mode = m;