diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2ef2a5a9..f51dde75 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ appear at the top.
 ## [Unreleased][]
 
   * Your contribution here!
+* [#457](https://github.com/capistrano/sshkit/pull/457): https://github.com/capistrano/sshkit/pull/457 - [@eatwithforks](https://github.com/eatwithforks)
 * [#455](https://github.com/capistrano/sshkit/pull/455): Ensure UUID of commands are stable in logging - [@lazyatom](https://github.com/lazyatom)
 
 ## [1.18.2][] (2019-02-03)
diff --git a/lib/sshkit/backends/netssh.rb b/lib/sshkit/backends/netssh.rb
index 86538ffa..faf0c756 100644
--- a/lib/sshkit/backends/netssh.rb
+++ b/lib/sshkit/backends/netssh.rb
@@ -79,10 +79,9 @@ def download!(remote, local=nil, options = {})
 
       # Note that this pool must be explicitly closed before Ruby exits to
       # ensure the underlying IO objects are properly cleaned up. We register an
-      # at_exit handler to do this automatically, as long as Ruby is exiting
-      # cleanly (i.e. without an exception).
+      # at_exit handler to do this automatically.
       @pool = SSHKit::Backend::ConnectionPool.new
-      at_exit { @pool.close_connections if @pool && !$ERROR_INFO }
+      at_exit { @pool.close_connections if @pool }
 
       class << self
         attr_accessor :pool