diff --git a/flac-decoder.rkt b/flac-decoder.rkt
index 8ff7a90..4dccf82 100644
--- a/flac-decoder.rkt
+++ b/flac-decoder.rkt
@@ -171,14 +171,21 @@
   (define (flac-stop handle)
     (let ((ct (current-milliseconds)))
       (dbg-sound "requesting stop at: ~a" ct)
-      (set-flac-handle-stop-reading! handle #t)
-      (while (flac-handle-reading handle)
-             (sleep 0.01))
+      (if (flac-handle-reading handle)
+          (begin ; in reading
+            (set-flac-handle-stop-reading! handle #t)
+            (while (flac-handle-reading handle)
+                   (sleep 0.01)))
+          (begin ; never starte reading, or reading finished
+            (dbg-sound "not reading flac, need to finish flac")
+            (let ((ffi-handler (flac-handle-ffi-decoder-handler handle)))
+              (unless (eq? ffi-handler #f)
+                (ffi-handle 'delete))))
+          )
       (let ((ct* (current-milliseconds)))
         (dbg-sound "stop came back at: ~a" ct*)
         (dbg-sound "flac-stop took: ~a ms" (- ct* ct)))
       )
     )
-
                          
   ); end of module