diff --git a/tile_fetcher.go b/tile_fetcher.go
index 9e45eac..7f31a07 100644
--- a/tile_fetcher.go
+++ b/tile_fetcher.go
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ func (t *TileFetcher) download(url string) ([]byte, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
 
 	switch resp.StatusCode {
 	case http.StatusOK:
@@ -128,8 +129,6 @@ func (t *TileFetcher) download(url string) ([]byte, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("GET %s: %s", url, resp.Status)
 	}
 
-	defer resp.Body.Close()
-
 	contents, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/tile_fetcher_test.go b/tile_fetcher_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a1e8ad1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tile_fetcher_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+package sm
+
+import (
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// closeTrackingBody wraps an io.ReadCloser and records whether Close was called.
+type closeTrackingBody struct {
+	io.ReadCloser
+	closed bool
+}
+
+func (b *closeTrackingBody) Close() error {
+	b.closed = true
+	return b.ReadCloser.Close()
+}
+
+// closeTrackingTransport wraps a Transport and captures the closeTrackingBody
+// of the last response it produced, so a test can check whether it was closed.
+type closeTrackingTransport struct {
+	http.RoundTripper
+	lastBody *closeTrackingBody
+}
+
+func (t *closeTrackingTransport) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
+	resp, err := t.RoundTripper.RoundTrip(req)
+	if err != nil {
+		return resp, err
+	}
+	wrapped := &closeTrackingBody{ReadCloser: resp.Body}
+	t.lastBody = wrapped
+	resp.Body = wrapped
+	return resp, nil
+}
+
+// withInstrumentedDefaultClient temporarily swaps http.DefaultClient's
+// Transport for one that tracks response body closes, and returns a
+// restore func plus the tracker itself.
+func withInstrumentedDefaultClient(t *testing.T) (*closeTrackingTransport, func()) {
+	t.Helper()
+	base := http.DefaultClient.Transport
+	if base == nil {
+		base = http.DefaultTransport
+	}
+	tracker := &closeTrackingTransport{RoundTripper: base}
+	orig := http.DefaultClient.Transport
+	http.DefaultClient.Transport = tracker
+	return tracker, func() {
+		http.DefaultClient.Transport = orig
+	}
+}
+
+// TestTileFetcherDownloadClosesBodyOn404 verifies that TileFetcher.download
+// closes the HTTP response body even when the server responds with a
+// non-200 status. Leaving it unclosed leaks the underlying connection's
+// file descriptor since it is never returned to the transport's pool.
+func TestTileFetcherDownloadClosesBodyOn404(t *testing.T) {
+	srv := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+		_, _ = w.Write([]byte("not found"))
+	}))
+	defer srv.Close()
+
+	tracker, restore := withInstrumentedDefaultClient(t)
+	defer restore()
+
+	provider := NewTileProviderOpenStreetMaps()
+	fetcher := NewTileFetcher(provider, nil, true)
+
+	_, err := fetcher.download(srv.URL)
+	if err != errTileNotFound {
+		t.Fatalf("expected errTileNotFound, got %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if tracker.lastBody == nil {
+		t.Fatal("no response body was observed")
+	}
+	if !tracker.lastBody.closed {
+		t.Error("response body was not closed on 404 response, leaking the underlying connection")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestTileFetcherDownloadClosesBodyOnServerError mirrors the 404 case for
+// the generic "unexpected status code" error path.
+func TestTileFetcherDownloadClosesBodyOnServerError(t *testing.T) {
+	srv := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		_, _ = w.Write([]byte("boom"))
+	}))
+	defer srv.Close()
+
+	tracker, restore := withInstrumentedDefaultClient(t)
+	defer restore()
+
+	provider := NewTileProviderOpenStreetMaps()
+	fetcher := NewTileFetcher(provider, nil, true)
+
+	_, err := fetcher.download(srv.URL)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected an error for 500 response")
+	}
+
+	if tracker.lastBody == nil {
+		t.Fatal("no response body was observed")
+	}
+	if !tracker.lastBody.closed {
+		t.Error("response body was not closed on 500 response, leaking the underlying connection")
+	}
+}