diff --git a/swift/common/utils.py b/swift/common/utils.py
index 0a9fc4dedf..78f69781a6 100644
--- a/swift/common/utils.py
+++ b/swift/common/utils.py
@@ -2074,6 +2074,24 @@ def csv_append(csv_string, item):
         return item
 
 
+class CloseableChain(object):
+    """
+    Like itertools.chain, but with a close method that will attempt to invoke
+    its sub-iterators' close methods, if any.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, *iterables):
+        self.iterables = iterables
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        return iter(itertools.chain(*(self.iterables)))
+
+    def close(self):
+        for it in self.iterables:
+            close_method = getattr(it, 'close', None)
+            if close_method:
+                close_method()
+
+
 def reiterate(iterable):
     """
     Consume the first item from an iterator, then re-chain it to the rest of
@@ -2090,7 +2108,7 @@ def reiterate(iterable):
             chunk = ''
             while not chunk:
                 chunk = next(iterator)
-            return itertools.chain([chunk], iterator)
+            return CloseableChain([chunk], iterator)
         except StopIteration:
             return []
 
diff --git a/swift/common/wsgi.py b/swift/common/wsgi.py
index f75e1f7a12..1bacb4eff7 100644
--- a/swift/common/wsgi.py
+++ b/swift/common/wsgi.py
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ import signal
 import time
 import mimetools
 from swift import gettext_ as _
-from itertools import chain
 from StringIO import StringIO
 
 import eventlet
@@ -35,7 +34,8 @@ from swift.common import utils
 from swift.common.swob import Request
 from swift.common.utils import capture_stdio, disable_fallocate, \
     drop_privileges, get_logger, NullLogger, config_true_value, \
-    validate_configuration, get_hub, config_auto_int_value
+    validate_configuration, get_hub, config_auto_int_value, \
+    CloseableChain
 
 try:
     import multiprocessing
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ class WSGIContext(object):
         except StopIteration:
             return iter([])
         else:  # We got a first_chunk
-            return chain([first_chunk], resp)
+            return CloseableChain([first_chunk], resp)
 
     def _get_status_int(self):
         """
diff --git a/test/unit/common/test_swob.py b/test/unit/common/test_swob.py
index 3ba51ab858..d910c95d33 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/test_swob.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/test_swob.py
@@ -936,6 +936,22 @@ class TestResponse(unittest.TestCase):
         output_iter = resp(req.environ, lambda *_: None)
         self.assertEquals(list(output_iter), [''])
 
+    def test_call_preserves_closeability(self):
+        def test_app(environ, start_response):
+            start_response('200 OK', [])
+            yield "igloo"
+            yield "shindig"
+            yield "macadamia"
+            yield "hullabaloo"
+        req = swift.common.swob.Request.blank('/')
+        req.method = 'GET'
+        status, headers, app_iter = req.call_application(test_app)
+        iterator = iter(app_iter)
+        self.assertEqual('igloo', iterator.next())
+        self.assertEqual('shindig', iterator.next())
+        app_iter.close()
+        self.assertRaises(StopIteration, iterator.next)
+
     def test_location_rewrite(self):
         def start_response(env, headers):
             pass
diff --git a/test/unit/common/test_wsgi.py b/test/unit/common/test_wsgi.py
index 869fbe2593..af8987b198 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/test_wsgi.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/test_wsgi.py
@@ -598,6 +598,27 @@ class TestWSGIContext(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEquals(wc._response_status, '404 Not Found')
         self.assertEquals(''.join(it), 'Ok\n')
 
+    def test_app_iter_is_closable(self):
+
+        def app(env, start_response):
+            start_response('200 OK', [('Content-Length', '25')])
+            yield 'aaaaa'
+            yield 'bbbbb'
+            yield 'ccccc'
+            yield 'ddddd'
+            yield 'eeeee'
+
+        wc = wsgi.WSGIContext(app)
+        r = Request.blank('/')
+        iterable = wc._app_call(r.environ)
+        self.assertEquals(wc._response_status, '200 OK')
+
+        iterator = iter(iterable)
+        self.assertEqual('aaaaa', iterator.next())
+        self.assertEqual('bbbbb', iterator.next())
+        iterable.close()
+        self.assertRaises(StopIteration, iterator.next)
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()