diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/DefaultFileRegion.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/DefaultFileRegion.java
index 4bc9419462..57f72aa0b4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/DefaultFileRegion.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/DefaultFileRegion.java
@@ -14,21 +14,29 @@ public class DefaultFileRegion implements FileRegion {
     private final FileChannel file;
     private final long position;
     private final long count;
+    private boolean releaseAfterTransfer;
 
-    public DefaultFileRegion(FileChannel file, long position, long count) {
+    public DefaultFileRegion(FileChannel file, long position, long count, boolean releaseAfterTransfer) {
         this.file = file;
         this.position = position;
         this.count = count;
+        this.releaseAfterTransfer = releaseAfterTransfer;
     }
 
+    public DefaultFileRegion(FileChannel file, long position, long count) {
+        this(file, position, count, false);
+    }
+    
     public long getPosition() {
         return position;
     }
 
+    
     public long getCount() {
         return count;
     }
 
+    
     public long transferTo(WritableByteChannel target, long position) throws IOException {
         long count = this.count - position;
         if (count < 0 || position < 0) {
@@ -43,6 +51,7 @@ public class DefaultFileRegion implements FileRegion {
         return file.transferTo(this.position + position, count, target);
     }
 
+    
     public void releaseExternalResources() {
         try {
             file.close();
@@ -50,4 +59,13 @@ public class DefaultFileRegion implements FileRegion {
             logger.warn("Failed to close a file.", e);
         }
     }
+
+    
+    public boolean releaseAfterTransfer() {
+        return releaseAfterTransfer;
+    }
+    
+    public void setReleaseAfterTransfer(boolean releaseAfterTransfer) {
+        this.releaseAfterTransfer = releaseAfterTransfer;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/nio/SocketSendBufferPool.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/nio/SocketSendBufferPool.java
index d4f898ab8c..9b1900fb12 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/nio/SocketSendBufferPool.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/nio/SocketSendBufferPool.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import java.nio.channels.DatagramChannel;
 import java.nio.channels.WritableByteChannel;
 
 import org.jboss.netty.buffer.ChannelBuffer;
+import org.jboss.netty.channel.DefaultFileRegion;
 import org.jboss.netty.channel.FileRegion;
 
 /**
@@ -288,8 +289,12 @@ final class SocketSendBufferPool {
         }
 
         public void release() {
-            // Make sure the FileRegion resource are released otherwise it may cause a FD leak or something similar
-            file.releaseExternalResources();
+            if (file instanceof DefaultFileRegion) {
+                if (((DefaultFileRegion)file).releaseAfterTransfer()) {
+                    // Make sure the FileRegion resource are released otherwise it may cause a FD leak or something similar
+                    file.releaseExternalResources();
+                }
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/oio/OioWorker.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/oio/OioWorker.java
index eaee7fbdb8..03c3104647 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/oio/OioWorker.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/oio/OioWorker.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 import org.jboss.netty.buffer.ChannelBuffer;
 import org.jboss.netty.channel.Channel;
 import org.jboss.netty.channel.ChannelFuture;
+import org.jboss.netty.channel.DefaultFileRegion;
 import org.jboss.netty.channel.FileRegion;
 
 /**
@@ -141,7 +142,11 @@ class OioWorker implements Runnable {
                         }
                     }
                 } finally {
-                    fr.releaseExternalResources();
+                    if (fr instanceof DefaultFileRegion) {
+                        if (((DefaultFileRegion)fr).releaseAfterTransfer()) {
+                            fr.releaseExternalResources();
+                        }
+                    }
 
                 }
             } else {