diff --git a/src/obidmscolumn.c b/src/obidmscolumn.c
index c774a72..bdfc4fb 100644
--- a/src/obidmscolumn.c
+++ b/src/obidmscolumn.c
@@ -317,7 +317,12 @@ static obiversion_t obi_get_new_version_number(OBIDMS_column_directory_p column_
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	close(version_file_descriptor);
+	if (close(version_file_descriptor) < 0)
+	{
+		obi_set_errno(OBICOL_UNKNOWN_ERROR);
+		obidebug(1, "\nError closing a version file");
+		return -1;
+	}
 
 	return new_version_number;
 }
@@ -403,7 +408,12 @@ static obiversion_t create_version_file(OBIDMS_column_directory_p column_directo
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	close(version_file_descriptor);
+	if (close(version_file_descriptor) < 0)
+	{
+		obi_set_errno(OBICOL_UNKNOWN_ERROR);
+		obidebug(1, "\nError closing a version file");
+		return -1;
+	}
 
 	return version_number;
 }
@@ -480,7 +490,12 @@ obiversion_t obi_get_latest_version_number(OBIDMS_column_directory_p column_dire
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	close(version_file_descriptor);
+	if (close(version_file_descriptor) < 0)
+	{
+		obi_set_errno(OBICOL_UNKNOWN_ERROR);
+		obidebug(1, "\nError closing a version file");
+		return -1;
+	}
 
 	return latest_version_number;
 }
@@ -794,7 +809,12 @@ OBIDMS_column_p obi_create_column(OBIDMS_p     dms,
 	// Fill the data with NA values
 	obi_ini_to_NA_values(new_column, 0, nb_lines);
 
-	close(column_file_descriptor);
+	if (close(column_file_descriptor) < 0)
+	{
+		obi_set_errno(OBICOL_UNKNOWN_ERROR);
+		obidebug(1, "\nError closing a column file");
+		return NULL;
+	}
 
 	// Add in the list of opened columns
 	obi_dms_list_column(dms, new_column);
@@ -940,7 +960,12 @@ OBIDMS_column_p obi_open_column(OBIDMS_p dms,
 		}
 	}
 
-	close(column_file_descriptor);
+	if (close(column_file_descriptor) < 0)
+	{
+		obi_set_errno(OBICOL_UNKNOWN_ERROR);
+		obidebug(1, "\nError closing a column file");
+		return NULL;
+	}
 
 	// Add in the list of opened columns
 	obi_dms_list_column(dms, column);
@@ -999,10 +1024,11 @@ OBIDMS_column_p obi_clone_column(OBIDMS_p         dms,
 	{
 		obi_set_errno(OBICOL_UNKNOWN_ERROR);
 		obidebug(1, "\nError creating the new column when cloning a column");
-		// The new file is deleted
-		const char* column_file_name = build_column_file_name(column_name, version_number);
-		if (remove(column_file_name) < 0)
-			obidebug(1, "\nError deleting a bad cloned file");
+		// The new file is deleted TODO check if it exists before
+		//const char* column_file_name = build_column_file_name(column_name, version_number);
+		//if (remove(column_file_name) < 0)
+		//	obidebug(1, "\nError deleting a bad cloned file");
+		return NULL;
 	}
 
 	(new_column->header)->cloned_from = (column_to_clone->header)->version;
@@ -1036,7 +1062,6 @@ OBIDMS_column_p obi_clone_column(OBIDMS_p         dms,
 
 int obi_close_column(OBIDMS_column_p column)
 {
-	bool    close_dir;
 	int     ret_val = 0;
 
 	// Truncate the column to the number of lines used if it's not read-only
@@ -1051,9 +1076,6 @@ int obi_close_column(OBIDMS_column_p column)
 		if (obi_dms_unlist_column(column->dms, column) < 0)
 			ret_val = -1;
 
-		// Close column directory if it was the last column opened from that directory
-		close_dir = obi_dms_is_column_name_in_list(column->dms, (column->header)->name);
-
 		// If the data type is OBI_STR, OBI_SEQ or OBI_QUAL, the associated indexer is closed
 		if (((column->header)->returned_data_type == OBI_STR) || ((column->header)->returned_data_type == OBI_SEQ) || ((column->header)->returned_data_type == OBI_QUAL))
 			if (obi_close_indexer(column->indexer) < 0)
@@ -1076,9 +1098,8 @@ int obi_close_column(OBIDMS_column_p column)
 		}
 
 		// Close column directory
-		if (close_dir)
-			if (obi_close_column_directory(column->column_directory) < 0)
-				ret_val = -1;
+		if (obi_close_column_directory(column->column_directory) < 0)
+			ret_val = -1;
 
 		free(column);
 	}
@@ -1164,7 +1185,12 @@ int obi_truncate_column(OBIDMS_column_p column)	// TODO is it necessary to unmap
 	(column->header)->line_count = new_line_count;
 	(column->header)->data_size = data_size;
 
-	close(column_file_descriptor);
+	if (close(column_file_descriptor) < 0)
+	{
+		obi_set_errno(OBICOL_UNKNOWN_ERROR);
+		obidebug(1, "\nError closing a column file");
+		return -1;
+	}
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -1264,7 +1290,12 @@ int obi_enlarge_column(OBIDMS_column_p column)
 	// Initialize new data lines to NA
 	obi_ini_to_NA_values(column, old_line_count, new_line_count - old_line_count);
 
-	close(column_file_descriptor);
+	if (close(column_file_descriptor) < 0)
+	{
+		obi_set_errno(OBICOL_UNKNOWN_ERROR);
+		obidebug(1, "\nError closing a column file");
+		return -1;
+	}
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -1407,7 +1438,12 @@ OBIDMS_column_header_p obi_column_get_header_from_name(OBIDMS_p dms, const char*
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	close(column_file_descriptor);
+	if (close(column_file_descriptor) < 0)
+	{
+		obi_set_errno(OBICOL_UNKNOWN_ERROR);
+		obidebug(1, "\nError closing a column file");
+		return NULL;
+	}
 
 	return header;
 }