diff --git a/lib/rest_client.rb b/lib/rest_client.rb
index bf4c702..20b1f07 100644
--- a/lib/rest_client.rb
+++ b/lib/rest_client.rb
@@ -148,6 +148,8 @@ module RestClient
 			raise RestClient::ServerBrokeConnection
 		rescue Timeout::Error
 			raise RestClient::RequestTimeout
+		ensure
+			payload.close
 		end
 
 		def setup_credentials(req)
diff --git a/lib/rest_client/payload.rb b/lib/rest_client/payload.rb
index 69aa6c1..803d323 100644
--- a/lib/rest_client/payload.rb
+++ b/lib/rest_client/payload.rb
@@ -48,7 +48,10 @@ module RestClient
 			end
 			alias :length :size
 			
-			
+			def close
+				@stream.close
+			end
+
 		end
 
 		class UrlEncoded < Base
@@ -63,7 +66,7 @@ module RestClient
 			def headers
 				super.merge({'Content-Type' => 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'})
 			end
-
+			
 		end
 
 		class Multipart < Base
@@ -95,11 +98,15 @@ module RestClient
 			end
 
 			def create_file_field(s, k, v)
-				s.write("Content-Disposition: multipart/form-data; name=\"#{k}\"; filename=\"#{v.path}\"#{EOL}")
-				s.write("Content-Type: #{mime_for(v.path)}#{EOL}")
-				s.write(EOL)
-				while data = v.read(8124)
-					s.write(data)
+				begin
+					s.write("Content-Disposition: multipart/form-data; name=\"#{k}\"; filename=\"#{v.path}\"#{EOL}")
+					s.write("Content-Type: #{mime_for(v.path)}#{EOL}")
+					s.write(EOL)
+					while data = v.read(8124)
+						s.write(data)
+					end
+				ensure
+					v.close
 				end
 			end
 			
@@ -115,6 +122,10 @@ module RestClient
 			def headers
 				super.merge({'Content-Type' => %Q{multipart/form-data; boundary="#{boundary}"}})
 			end
+			
+			def close
+				@stream.close
+			end
 
 		end
 
diff --git a/spec/base.rb b/spec/base.rb
index 192612c..cdef584 100644
--- a/spec/base.rb
+++ b/spec/base.rb
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@ require 'rubygems'
 require 'spec'
 
 require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../lib/rest_client'
+
diff --git a/spec/rest_client_spec.rb b/spec/rest_client_spec.rb
index f875c20..865ff72 100644
--- a/spec/rest_client_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/rest_client_spec.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/base'
 
 describe RestClient do
+	
+	def generate_payload(v)
+		RestClient::Payload::Base.new(v)
+	end
+	
 	context "public API" do
 		it "GET" do
 			RestClient::Request.should_receive(:execute).with(:method => :get, :url => 'http://some/resource', :headers => {})
@@ -104,9 +109,9 @@ describe RestClient do
 		end
 
 		it "transmits the request with Net::HTTP" do
-			@http.should_receive(:request).with('req', 'payload')
+			@http.should_receive(:request).with('req', be_kind_of(RestClient::Payload::Base))
 			@request.should_receive(:process_result)
-			@request.transmit(@uri, 'req', 'payload')
+			@request.transmit(@uri, 'req', generate_payload('payload'))
 		end
 
 		it "uses SSL when the URI refers to a https address" do
@@ -114,13 +119,7 @@ describe RestClient do
 			@net.should_receive(:use_ssl=).with(true)
 			@http.stub!(:request)
 			@request.stub!(:process_result)
-			@request.transmit(@uri, 'req', 'payload')
-		end
-
-		it "doesn't send nil payloads" do
-			@http.should_receive(:request).with('req', '')
-			@request.should_receive(:process_result)
-			@request.transmit(@uri, 'req', nil)
+			@request.transmit(@uri, 'req', generate_payload('payload'))
 		end
 
 		it "passes non-hash payloads straight through" do
@@ -151,7 +150,7 @@ describe RestClient do
 			@request.stub!(:password).and_return('mypass')
 			@request.should_receive(:setup_credentials).with('req')
 
-			@request.transmit(@uri, 'req', nil)
+			@request.transmit(@uri, 'req', generate_payload(''))
 		end
 
 		it "does not attempt to send any credentials if user is nil" do
@@ -171,7 +170,8 @@ describe RestClient do
 
 		it "catches EOFError and shows the more informative ServerBrokeConnection" do
 			@http.stub!(:request).and_raise(EOFError)
-			lambda { @request.transmit(@uri, 'req', nil) }.should raise_error(RestClient::ServerBrokeConnection)
+			lambda { @request.transmit(@uri, 'req', generate_payload('')) }.
+				should raise_error(RestClient::ServerBrokeConnection)
 		end
 
 		it "execute calls execute_inner" do