diff --git a/libs/pbd/sndfile_manager.cc b/libs/pbd/sndfile_manager.cc
index 53e3c5ce00..c53778ac0d 100644
--- a/libs/pbd/sndfile_manager.cc
+++ b/libs/pbd/sndfile_manager.cc
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ SndFileDescriptor::open ()
 
 	_sndfile = sf_open_fd (fd, _writeable ? SFM_RDWR : SFM_READ, _info, 1);
 
-	if (sf_open_fd == 0) {
+	if (_sndfile == 0) {
 		::close(fd);
 	}