diff --git a/libcontainer/notify_linux.go b/libcontainer/notify_linux.go
index 81587b9b..47a06783 100644
--- a/libcontainer/notify_linux.go
+++ b/libcontainer/notify_linux.go
@@ -44,9 +44,9 @@ func registerMemoryEvent(cgDir string, evName string, arg string) (<-chan struct
 	ch := make(chan struct{})
 	go func() {
 		defer func() {
-			close(ch)
 			eventfd.Close()
 			evFile.Close()
+			close(ch)
 		}()
 		buf := make([]byte, 8)
 		for {
diff --git a/libcontainer/notify_linux_test.go b/libcontainer/notify_linux_test.go
index 5e9f6a78..1e15ae2c 100644
--- a/libcontainer/notify_linux_test.go
+++ b/libcontainer/notify_linux_test.go
@@ -53,17 +53,13 @@ func testMemoryNotification(t *testing.T, evName string, notify notifyFunc, targ
 		t.Fatalf("invalid control data %q: %s", data, err)
 	}
 
-	// re-open the eventfd
+	// dup the eventfd
 	efd, err := unix.Dup(eventFd)
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal("unable to reopen eventfd:", err)
+		t.Fatal("unable to dup eventfd:", err)
 	}
 	defer unix.Close(efd)
 
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal("unable to dup event fd:", err)
-	}
-
 	buf := make([]byte, 8)
 	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint64(buf, 1)
 
@@ -93,6 +89,7 @@ func testMemoryNotification(t *testing.T, evName string, notify notifyFunc, targ
 			t.Fatal("expected no notification to be triggered")
 		}
 	case <-time.After(100 * time.Millisecond):
+		t.Fatal("channel not closed after 100ms")
 	}
 
 	if _, _, err := unix.Syscall(unix.SYS_FCNTL, uintptr(evFd), unix.F_GETFD, 0); err != unix.EBADF {