diff --git a/src/switch.c b/src/switch.c
index 985535cd8e..3966f5f9ee 100644
--- a/src/switch.c
+++ b/src/switch.c
@@ -96,14 +96,14 @@ static int freeswitch_kill_background()
 		fprintf(stderr, "Killing: %d\n", (int) pid);
 #ifdef WIN32
 		snprintf(path, sizeof(path), "Global\\Freeswitch.%d", pid);
-		shutdown_event = OpenEvent(EVENT_MODIFY_STATE, FALSE, path);
-		if (!shutdown_event) {
-			/* we can't get the event, so we can't signal the process to shutdown */
+		shutdown_event = OpenEvent(EVENT_MODIFY_STATE, FALSE, path);
+		if (!shutdown_event) {
+			/* we can't get the event, so we can't signal the process to shutdown */
 			fprintf(stderr, "ERROR: Can't Shutdown: %d\n", (int) pid);
-		} else {
-			SetEvent(shutdown_event);
-		}
-		CloseHandle(shutdown_event);
+		} else {
+			SetEvent(shutdown_event);
+		}
+		CloseHandle(shutdown_event);
 #else
 		kill(pid, SIGTERM);
 #endif