diff --git a/pkg/protocol/gossip/service.go b/pkg/protocol/gossip/service.go
index 856a772ccc..96412e8354 100644
--- a/pkg/protocol/gossip/service.go
+++ b/pkg/protocol/gossip/service.go
@@ -562,6 +562,12 @@ func (s *Service) deregisterProtocol(peerID peer.ID) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unable to cleanly reset stream to %s: %w", peerID, err)
 	}
 
+	// Drop connection to peer since we no longer have a protocol stream to it
+	conn := proto.Stream.Conn()
+	if conn != nil {
+		return conn.Close()
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }