diff --git a/src/obidmscolumn.c b/src/obidmscolumn.c
index 4506113..0196141 100644
--- a/src/obidmscolumn.c
+++ b/src/obidmscolumn.c
@@ -913,7 +913,12 @@ OBIDMS_column_p obi_clone_column(OBIDMS_p dms, const char* column_name, obiversi
 		(new_column->header)->lines_used = nb_lines;
 	}
 
-	// close column_to_clone TODO
+	// close column_to_clone
+	if (obi_close_column(column_to_clone) < 0)
+	{
+		obidebug(1, "\nError closing a column that has been cloned");
+		// TODO return NULL or not?
+	}
 
 	return new_column;
 }