diff --git a/byterun/io.c b/byterun/io.c
index 77f308c8a..ac7ea76ba 100644
--- a/byterun/io.c
+++ b/byterun/io.c
@@ -420,14 +420,23 @@ CAMLexport intnat caml_input_scan_line(struct channel *channel)
 /* OCaml entry points for the I/O functions.  Wrap struct channel *
    objects into a heap-allocated object.  Perform locking
    and unlocking around the I/O operations. */
+
 /* FIXME CAMLexport, but not in io.h  exported for Cash ? */
 CAMLexport void caml_finalize_channel(value vchan)
 {
   struct channel * chan = Channel(vchan);
   if (--chan->refcount > 0) return;
   if (caml_channel_mutex_free != NULL) (*caml_channel_mutex_free)(chan);
-  unlink_channel(chan);
-  caml_stat_free(chan);
+  /* If the buffer is empty, remove the channel from the list of all
+     open channels and free it. Otherwise, keep it around so the Ocaml
+     [at_exit] function gets a chance to flush it.
+     We would want to simply flush the channel now, but flushing can
+     raise exceptions, which is forbidden in a finalization function.
+  */
+  if (chan->curr == chan->buff){
+    unlink_channel(chan);
+    caml_stat_free(chan);
+  }
 }
 
 static int compare_channel(value vchan1, value vchan2)