diff --git a/source/vibe/core/net.d b/source/vibe/core/net.d
index e95681c..18c86b3 100644
--- a/source/vibe/core/net.d
+++ b/source/vibe/core/net.d
@@ -192,9 +192,9 @@ TCPConnection connectTCP(NetworkAddress addr, NetworkAddress bind_address = anyA
 	return () @trusted { // scope
 		scope uaddr = new RefAddress(addr.sockAddr, addr.sockAddrLen);
 		scope baddr = new RefAddress(bind_address.sockAddr, bind_address.sockAddrLen);
-		
+
 		// FIXME: make this interruptible
-		auto result = asyncAwaitUninterruptible!(ConnectCallback, 
+		auto result = asyncAwaitUninterruptible!(ConnectCallback,
 			cb => eventDriver.sockets.connectStream(uaddr, baddr, cb)
 			//cb => eventDriver.sockets.cancelConnect(cb)
 		);
@@ -511,7 +511,7 @@ struct TCPConnection {
 	@property bool empty() { return leastSize == 0; }
 	@property ulong leastSize() { waitForData(); return m_context && m_context.readBuffer.length; }
 	@property bool dataAvailableForRead() { return waitForData(0.seconds); }
-	
+
 	void close()
 	nothrow {
 		//logInfo("close %s", cast(int)m_fd);
@@ -522,7 +522,7 @@ struct TCPConnection {
 			m_context = null;
 		}
 	}
-	
+
 	bool waitForData(Duration timeout = Duration.max)
 	{
 mixin(tracer);
@@ -602,7 +602,7 @@ mixin(tracer);
 		auto res = asyncAwait!(IOCallback,
 			cb => eventDriver.sockets.write(m_socket, bytes, mode, cb),
 			cb => eventDriver.sockets.cancelWrite(m_socket));
-		
+
 		switch (res[1]) {
 			default:
 				throw new Exception("Error writing data to socket.");
@@ -667,7 +667,7 @@ private void loopWithTimeout(alias LoopBody, ExceptionType = Exception)(Duration
 	do {
 		if (LoopBody(timeout))
 			return;
-		
+
 		if (timeout != Duration.max) {
 			auto prev = now;
 			now = Clock.currTime(UTC());
@@ -683,6 +683,9 @@ private void loopWithTimeout(alias LoopBody, ExceptionType = Exception)(Duration
 	Represents a listening TCP socket.
 */
 struct TCPListener {
+	// FIXME: copying may lead to dangling FDs - this somehow needs to employ reference counting without breaking
+	//        the previous behavior of keeping the socket alive when the listener isn't stored. At the same time,
+	//        stopListening() needs to keep working.
 	private {
 		StreamListenSocketFD m_socket;
 		NetworkAddress m_bindAddress;
@@ -704,7 +707,10 @@ struct TCPListener {
 	/// Stops listening and closes the socket.
 	void stopListening()
 	{
-		assert(false);
+		if (m_socket != StreamListenSocketFD.invalid) {
+			eventDriver.sockets.releaseRef(m_socket);
+			m_socket = StreamListenSocketFD.invalid;
+		}
 	}
 }
 
@@ -722,7 +728,7 @@ struct UDPConnection {
 		Context* m_context;
 	}
 
-	private this(ref NetworkAddress bind_address) 
+	private this(ref NetworkAddress bind_address)
 	{
 		scope baddr = new RefAddress(bind_address.sockAddr, bind_address.sockAddrLen);
 		m_socket = eventDriver.sockets.createDatagramSocket(baddr, null);
diff --git a/tests/vibe.core.net.1726.d b/tests/vibe.core.net.1726.d
index 55af1e4..394ebc1 100644
--- a/tests/vibe.core.net.1726.d
+++ b/tests/vibe.core.net.1726.d
@@ -10,12 +10,11 @@ import vibe.core.net;
 import core.time : msecs;
 import vibe.core.log;
 
-void main()
-{
-	bool done = false;
-	auto buf = new ubyte[512*1024*1024];
+ubyte[] buf;
 
-	listenTCP(11375,(conn) {
+void performTest(bool reverse)
+{
+	auto l = listenTCP(11375, (conn) {
 		bool read_ex = false;
 		bool write_ex = false;
 		auto rt = runTask!TCPConnection((conn) {
@@ -29,10 +28,10 @@ void main()
 			} // expected
 		}, conn);
 		auto wt = runTask!TCPConnection((conn) {
-			sleep(1.msecs); // give the connection time to establish 
+			sleep(reverse ? 100.msecs : 20.msecs); // give the connection time to establish
 			try {
 				conn.write(buf);
-				assert(false, "Expected read() to throw an exception.");
+				assert(false, "Expected write() to throw an exception.");
 			} catch (Exception) {
 				write_ex = true;
 				conn.close();
@@ -44,24 +43,28 @@ void main()
 		wt.join();
 		assert(read_ex, "No read exception thrown");
 		assert(write_ex, "No write exception thrown");
-		done = true;
+		logInfo("Test has finished successfully.");
+		exitEventLoop();
 	}, "127.0.0.1");
 
 	runTask({
 		try {
 			auto conn = connectTCP("127.0.0.1", 11375);
-			sleep(10.msecs);
+			sleep(reverse ? 20.msecs : 100.msecs);
 			conn.close();
 		} catch (Exception e) assert(false, e.msg);
-		sleep(50.msecs);
-		assert(done, "Not done");
-
-		exitEventLoop();
 	});
 
-	setTimer(2000.msecs, {
-		assert(false, "Test has hung.");
-	});
+	runEventLoop();
 
-	runApplication();
+	l.stopListening();
+}
+
+void main()
+{
+	setTimer(10000.msecs, { assert(false, "Test has hung."); });
+	buf = new ubyte[512*1024*1024];
+
+	performTest(false);
+	performTest(true);
 }