diff --git a/os/mingw.c b/os/mingw.c
index 49a55744..4da952a9 100644
--- a/os/mingw.c
+++ b/os/mingw.c
@@ -2848,9 +2848,12 @@ int os_kill(pid_t pid)
 
 	if (!TerminateProcess(h, 1)) {
 		windows_errno(GetLastError());
+		CloseHandle(h);
 		return -1;
 	}
 
+	CloseHandle(h);
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/os/os.h b/os/os.h
index 8180b3e0..042d5fe0 100644
--- a/os/os.h
+++ b/os/os.h
@@ -135,13 +135,14 @@ pid_t os_wait(pid_t pid, int* status);
 
 /**
  * Terminate gracefully a process.
+ * The caller must subsequently call os_wait() to reap process resources and close handles.
  * \param pid Process ID of the process to terminate.
  * \return 0 on success, -1 on failure.
  */
 int os_term(pid_t pid);
 
 /**
- * Forcibly terminate a process.
+ * Forcibly terminate a process and release its handle/process resources.
  * \param pid Process ID of the process to kill.
  * \return 0 on success, -1 on failure.
  */