diff --git a/cmd/godmesg/main.go b/cmd/godmesg/main.go
index 77a1ff1..cca6735 100644
--- a/cmd/godmesg/main.go
+++ b/cmd/godmesg/main.go
@@ -25,12 +25,13 @@ import (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	kmsgParser, err := kmsgparser.NewParser()
+	parser, err := kmsgparser.NewParser()
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("unable to create parser: %v", err)
 	}
+	defer parser.Close()
 
-	kmsg := kmsgParser.Parse()
+	kmsg := parser.Parse()
 
 	for msg := range kmsg {
 		fmt.Printf("(%d) - %s: %s", msg.SequenceNumber, msg.Timestamp.Format(time.RFC3339Nano), msg.Message)
diff --git a/kmsgparser/kmsgparser.go b/kmsgparser/kmsgparser.go
index 6407e85..618fd89 100644
--- a/kmsgparser/kmsgparser.go
+++ b/kmsgparser/kmsgparser.go
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ type Parser interface {
 	// SetLogger sets the logger that will be used to report malformed kernel
 	// ringbuffer lines or unexpected kmsg read errors.
 	SetLogger(Logger)
+	// Close closes the underlying kmsg reader for this parser
+	Close() error
 }
 
 // Message represents a given kmsg logline, including its timestamp (as
@@ -90,6 +92,10 @@ func (p *parser) SetLogger(log Logger) {
 	p.log = log
 }
 
+func (p *parser) Close() error {
+	return p.kmsgReader.Close()
+}
+
 // Parse will read from the provided reader and provide a channel of messages
 // parsed.
 // If the provided reader *is not* a proper Linux kmsg device, Parse might not