diff --git a/Lib/test/test_urllib.py b/Lib/test/test_urllib.py
index f9b2799d25bfd0..8afceacae68b71 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_urllib.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_urllib.py
@@ -90,6 +90,12 @@ class FakeHTTPConnection(http.client.HTTPConnection):
         def connect(self):
             self.sock = FakeSocket(self.fakedata)
             type(self).fakesock = self.sock
+
+        def close(self):
+            # bpo-36918: Don't bother to track exactly I/O references
+            # of FakeSocket: do nothing to silence finalizer exception
+            pass
+
     FakeHTTPConnection.fakedata = fakedata
 
     return FakeHTTPConnection