diff --git a/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/gofer/dentry_impl.go b/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/gofer/dentry_impl.go
index 78d54f65f..9c97667e4 100644
--- a/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/gofer/dentry_impl.go
+++ b/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/gofer/dentry_impl.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ package gofer
 import (
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
 	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/abi/linux"
+	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/atomicbitops"
 	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/context"
 	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/errors/linuxerr"
 	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/fsutil"
@@ -147,6 +148,30 @@ func (d *dentry) updateHandles(ctx context.Context, h handle, readable, writable
 	}
 }
 
+// Preconditions:
+//   - d.handleMu must be locked.
+//   - !d.isSynthetic().
+func (d *dentry) closeHostFDs() {
+	// We can use RacyLoad() because d.handleMu is locked.
+	if d.readFD.RacyLoad() >= 0 {
+		_ = unix.Close(int(d.readFD.RacyLoad()))
+	}
+	if d.writeFD.RacyLoad() >= 0 && d.readFD.RacyLoad() != d.writeFD.RacyLoad() {
+		_ = unix.Close(int(d.writeFD.RacyLoad()))
+	}
+	d.readFD = atomicbitops.FromInt32(-1)
+	d.writeFD = atomicbitops.FromInt32(-1)
+	d.mmapFD = atomicbitops.FromInt32(-1)
+
+	switch dt := d.impl.(type) {
+	case *directfsDentry:
+		if dt.controlFD >= 0 {
+			_ = unix.Close(dt.controlFD)
+			dt.controlFD = -1
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // updateMetadataLocked updates the dentry's metadata fields. The h parameter
 // is optional. If it is not provided, an appropriate FD should be chosen to
 // stat the remote file.
@@ -213,6 +238,7 @@ func (d *dentry) setStatLocked(ctx context.Context, stat *linux.Statx) (uint32,
 	}
 }
 
+// Precondition: d.handleMu must be locked.
 func (d *dentry) destroyImpl(ctx context.Context) {
 	switch dt := d.impl.(type) {
 	case *lisafsDentry:
diff --git a/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/gofer/directfs_dentry.go b/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/gofer/directfs_dentry.go
index bef7ea8d6..7b5c7518c 100644
--- a/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/gofer/directfs_dentry.go
+++ b/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/gofer/directfs_dentry.go
@@ -91,7 +91,8 @@ func (fs *filesystem) getDirectfsRootDentry(ctx context.Context, rootHostFD int,
 type directfsDentry struct {
 	dentry
 
-	// controlFD is the host FD to this file. controlFD is immutable.
+	// controlFD is the host FD to this file. controlFD is immutable until
+	// destruction, which is synchronized with dentry.handleMu.
 	controlFD int
 
 	// controlFDLisa is a lisafs control FD on this dentry.
@@ -401,9 +402,11 @@ func fchown(fd, uid, gid int) error {
 	return unix.Fchownat(fd, "", uid, gid, unix.AT_EMPTY_PATH|unix.AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW)
 }
 
+// Precondition: d.handleMu must be locked.
 func (d *directfsDentry) destroy(ctx context.Context) {
 	if d.controlFD >= 0 {
 		_ = unix.Close(d.controlFD)
+		d.controlFD = -1
 	}
 	if d.controlFDLisa.Ok() {
 		d.controlFDLisa.Close(ctx, true /* flush */)
diff --git a/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/gofer/gofer.go b/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/gofer/gofer.go
index 5a5e9aa29..93fdbd333 100644
--- a/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/gofer/gofer.go
+++ b/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/gofer/gofer.go
@@ -678,17 +678,8 @@ func (fs *filesystem) Release(ctx context.Context) {
 		d.cache.DropAll(mf)
 		d.dirty.RemoveAll()
 		d.dataMu.Unlock()
-		// Close host FDs if they exist. We can use RacyLoad() because d.handleMu
-		// is locked.
-		if d.readFD.RacyLoad() >= 0 {
-			_ = unix.Close(int(d.readFD.RacyLoad()))
-		}
-		if d.writeFD.RacyLoad() >= 0 && d.readFD.RacyLoad() != d.writeFD.RacyLoad() {
-			_ = unix.Close(int(d.writeFD.RacyLoad()))
-		}
-		d.readFD = atomicbitops.FromInt32(-1)
-		d.writeFD = atomicbitops.FromInt32(-1)
-		d.mmapFD = atomicbitops.FromInt32(-1)
+		// Close host FDs if they exist.
+		d.closeHostFDs()
 		d.handleMu.Unlock()
 	}
 	// There can't be any specialFileFDs still using fs, since each such