diff --git a/src/unix/core.c b/src/unix/core.c
index d0a4037c..3bada900 100644
--- a/src/unix/core.c
+++ b/src/unix/core.c
@@ -88,6 +88,10 @@
 #include <sys/ioctl.h>
 #endif
 
+#if defined(__linux__)
+#include <sys/syscall.h>
+#endif
+
 static int uv__run_pending(uv_loop_t* loop);
 
 /* Verify that uv_buf_t is ABI-compatible with struct iovec. */
@@ -513,6 +517,10 @@ skip:
 /* close() on macos has the "interesting" quirk that it fails with EINTR
  * without closing the file descriptor when a thread is in the cancel state.
  * That's why libuv calls close$NOCANCEL() instead.
+ *
+ * glibc on linux has a similar issue: close() is a cancellation point and
+ * will unwind the thread when it's in the cancel state. Work around that
+ * by making the system call directly. Musl libc is unaffected.
  */
 int uv__close_nocancel(int fd) {
 #if defined(__APPLE__)
@@ -521,6 +529,8 @@ int uv__close_nocancel(int fd) {
   extern int close$NOCANCEL(int);
   return close$NOCANCEL(fd);
 #pragma GCC diagnostic pop
+#elif defined(__linux__)
+  return syscall(SYS_close, fd);
 #else
   return close(fd);
 #endif