diff --git a/salt/fileclient.py b/salt/fileclient.py
index 3c5a0ebffa3e..377f16b48f53 100644
--- a/salt/fileclient.py
+++ b/salt/fileclient.py
@@ -1030,7 +1030,13 @@ def destroy(self):
             return
 
         self._closing = True
-        self.channel.close()
+        channel = None
+        try:
+            channel = self.channel
+        except AttributeError:
+            pass
+        if channel is not None:
+            channel.close()
 
     def get_file(self,
                  path,