diff --git a/src/doveadm/doveadm-master.c b/src/doveadm/doveadm-master.c
index 9d644cc78b..ba3a1565e3 100644
--- a/src/doveadm/doveadm-master.c
+++ b/src/doveadm/doveadm-master.c
@@ -87,46 +87,54 @@ static void cmd_reload(int argc ATTR_UNUSED, char *argv[] ATTR_UNUSED)
 	doveadm_master_send_signal(SIGHUP);
 }
 
-static void cmd_service_stop(int argc, char *argv[])
+static struct istream *master_service_send_cmd(const char *cmd)
 {
-	const char *path, *line;
-	int fd;
-
-	if (argc == 1)
-		help_ver2(&doveadm_cmd_service_stop_ver2);
+	const char *path;
 
 	path = t_strconcat(doveadm_settings->base_dir, "/master", NULL);
-	fd = net_connect_unix(path);
+	int fd = net_connect_unix(path);
 	if (fd == -1)
 		i_fatal("net_connect_unix(%s) failed: %m", path);
 	net_set_nonblock(fd, FALSE);
 
+	const char *str =
+		t_strdup_printf("VERSION\tmaster-client\t1\t0\n%s\n", cmd);
+	if (write_full(fd, str, strlen(str)) < 0)
+		i_error("write(%s) failed: %m", path);
+	return i_stream_create_fd_autoclose(&fd, IO_BLOCK_SIZE);
+}
+
+static void cmd_service_stop(int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+	const char *line;
+
+	if (argc == 1)
+		help_ver2(&doveadm_cmd_service_stop_ver2);
+
 	string_t *cmd = t_str_new(128);
-	str_append(cmd, "VERSION\tmaster-client\t1\t0\nSTOP");
+	str_append(cmd, "STOP");
 	for (int i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
 		str_append_c(cmd, '\t');
 		str_append(cmd, argv[i]);
 	}
-	str_append_c(cmd, '\n');
-	if (write_full(fd, str_data(cmd), str_len(cmd)) < 0)
-		i_error("write(%s) failed: %m", path);
+	struct istream *input = master_service_send_cmd(str_c(cmd));
 
 	alarm(5);
-	struct istream *input = i_stream_create_fd(fd, IO_BLOCK_SIZE, FALSE);
 	if (i_stream_read_next_line(input) == NULL ||
 	    (line = i_stream_read_next_line(input)) == NULL) {
-		i_error("read(%s) failed: %s", path, i_stream_get_error(input));
+		i_error("read(%s) failed: %s", i_stream_get_name(input),
+			i_stream_get_error(input));
 		doveadm_exit_code = EX_TEMPFAIL;
 	} else if (line[0] == '-') {
 		doveadm_exit_code = DOVEADM_EX_NOTFOUND;
 		i_error("%s", line+1);
 	} else if (line[0] != '+') {
-		i_error("Unexpected input from %s: %s", path, line);
+		i_error("Unexpected input from %s: %s",
+			i_stream_get_name(input), line);
 		doveadm_exit_code = EX_TEMPFAIL;
 	}
 	alarm(0);
 	i_stream_destroy(&input);
-	i_close_fd(&fd);
 }
 
 struct doveadm_cmd_ver2 doveadm_cmd_stop_ver2 = {