diff --git a/abci/example/kvstore/persistent_kvstore.go b/abci/example/kvstore/persistent_kvstore.go
index d40983f85..0fcfcadf7 100644
--- a/abci/example/kvstore/persistent_kvstore.go
+++ b/abci/example/kvstore/persistent_kvstore.go
@@ -51,6 +51,10 @@ func NewPersistentKVStoreApplication(dbDir string) *PersistentKVStoreApplication
 	}
 }
 
+func (app *PersistentKVStoreApplication) Close() error {
+	return app.app.state.db.Close()
+}
+
 func (app *PersistentKVStoreApplication) SetLogger(l log.Logger) {
 	app.logger = l
 }
diff --git a/consensus/replay_test.go b/consensus/replay_test.go
index 0a7430ab8..8175033ab 100644
--- a/consensus/replay_test.go
+++ b/consensus/replay_test.go
@@ -704,6 +704,7 @@ func testHandshakeReplay(t *testing.T, config *cfg.Config, nBlocks int, mode uin
 	// make a new client creator
 	kvstoreApp := kvstore.NewPersistentKVStoreApplication(
 		filepath.Join(config.DBDir(), fmt.Sprintf("replay_test_%d_%d_a", nBlocks, mode)))
+	t.Cleanup(func() { require.NoError(t, kvstoreApp.Close()) })
 
 	clientCreator2 := proxy.NewLocalClientCreator(kvstoreApp)
 	if nBlocks > 0 {
@@ -835,9 +836,11 @@ func buildTMStateFromChain(
 	nBlocks int,
 	mode uint) sm.State {
 	// run the whole chain against this client to build up the tendermint state
-	clientCreator := proxy.NewLocalClientCreator(
-		kvstore.NewPersistentKVStoreApplication(
-			filepath.Join(config.DBDir(), fmt.Sprintf("replay_test_%d_%d_t", nBlocks, mode))))
+	kvstoreApp := kvstore.NewPersistentKVStoreApplication(
+		filepath.Join(config.DBDir(), fmt.Sprintf("replay_test_%d_%d_t", nBlocks, mode)))
+	defer kvstoreApp.Close()
+	clientCreator := proxy.NewLocalClientCreator(kvstoreApp)
+
 	proxyApp := proxy.NewAppConns(clientCreator)
 	if err := proxyApp.Start(); err != nil {
 		panic(err)
diff --git a/consensus/wal_generator.go b/consensus/wal_generator.go
index e82bfe8a2..bbb31f5ad 100644
--- a/consensus/wal_generator.go
+++ b/consensus/wal_generator.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	db "github.com/tendermint/tm-db"
 
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/abci/example/kvstore"
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ func WALGenerateNBlocks(t *testing.T, wr io.Writer, numBlocks int) (err error) {
 	config := getConfig(t)
 
 	app := kvstore.NewPersistentKVStoreApplication(filepath.Join(config.DBDir(), "wal_generator"))
+	t.Cleanup(func() { require.NoError(t, app.Close()) })
 
 	logger := log.TestingLogger().With("wal_generator", "wal_generator")
 	logger.Info("generating WAL (last height msg excluded)", "numBlocks", numBlocks)