diff --git a/Lib/socketserver.py b/Lib/socketserver.py
index 089b3bac112..f42802c27a9 100644
--- a/Lib/socketserver.py
+++ b/Lib/socketserver.py
@@ -549,10 +549,10 @@ class ForkingMixIn:
                 self.active_children = []
             self.active_children.append(pid)
             self.close_request(request)
-            return
         else:
             # Child process.
             # This must never return, hence os._exit()!
+            self.socket.close()
             try:
                 self.finish_request(request, client_address)
                 self.shutdown_request(request)
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index fac8078edbe..fc54f8905af 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #5715: In socketserver, close the server socket in the child process.
+
 - Correct lookup of __dir__ on objects. Among other things, this causes errors
   besides AttributeError found on lookup to be propagated.