diff --git a/Lib/socket.py b/Lib/socket.py
index 21a852155abb3b..da3589756b2046 100644
--- a/Lib/socket.py
+++ b/Lib/socket.py
@@ -572,7 +572,13 @@ def fromfd(fd, family, type, proto=0):
     descriptor.  The remaining arguments are the same as for socket().
     """
     nfd = dup(fd)
-    return socket(family, type, proto, nfd)
+    try:
+        return socket(family, type, proto, nfd)
+    except BaseException:
+        # socket() rejected the arguments; the dup()'d descriptor would
+        # otherwise leak, since nothing holds a reference to it.
+        close(nfd)
+        raise
 
 if hasattr(_socket.socket, "sendmsg"):
     def send_fds(sock, buffers, fds, flags=0, address=None):
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_socket.py b/Lib/test/test_socket.py
index e4b3d848923f8c..b906742ad12635 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_socket.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_socket.py
@@ -3195,6 +3195,27 @@ def testFromFd(self):
     def _testFromFd(self):
         self.serv_conn.send(MSG)
 
+    def testFromFdInvalidArgsDoesNotLeak(self):
+        # fromfd() dup()s the descriptor before socket() validates its
+        # arguments; a rejected call must not leave the duplicate open.
+        fddir = '/proc/self/fd'
+        if not os.path.isdir(fddir):
+            self.skipTest('test needs /proc/self/fd')
+        fd = self.cli_conn.fileno()
+        base = dict(family=socket.AF_INET, type=socket.SOCK_STREAM, proto=0)
+        # family, type and proto are all converted to a C int, so each of them
+        # can fail after the dup() has already happened.
+        for name in base:
+            kwargs = dict(base, **{name: 1 << 100})
+            with self.subTest(name=name):
+                before = len(os.listdir(fddir))
+                with self.assertRaises(OverflowError):
+                    socket.fromfd(fd, **kwargs)
+                self.assertEqual(len(os.listdir(fddir)), before)
+
+    def _testFromFdInvalidArgsDoesNotLeak(self):
+        pass
+
     def testDup(self):
         # Testing dup()
         sock = self.cli_conn.dup()
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-24-07-58-00.gh-issue-160561.b3Kq1z.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-24-07-58-00.gh-issue-160561.b3Kq1z.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..c49cd6a83e90bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-24-07-58-00.gh-issue-160561.b3Kq1z.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix a descriptor leak in :func:`socket.fromfd` when the socket constructor rejects its arguments. The duplicated descriptor was never closed.