diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 39510c1e..4c94a989 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 What's new in psycopg 2.4.5
 ---------------------------
 
+  - The close() methods on connections and cursors don't raise exceptions
+    if called on already closed objects.
   - Fixed fetchmany() with no argument in cursor subclasses
     (ticket #84).
   - Use lo_creat() instead of lo_create() when possible for better
diff --git a/psycopg/connection_int.c b/psycopg/connection_int.c
index 70465132..2395c00c 100644
--- a/psycopg/connection_int.c
+++ b/psycopg/connection_int.c
@@ -906,6 +906,10 @@ conn_poll(connectionObject *self)
 void
 conn_close(connectionObject *self)
 {
+    if (self->closed) {
+        return;
+    }
+
     /* sets this connection as closed even for other threads; also note that
        we need to check the value of pgconn, because we get called even when
        the connection fails! */
@@ -922,14 +926,13 @@ conn_close(connectionObject *self)
      * closed only in status CONN_STATUS_READY.
      */
 
-    if (self->closed == 0)
-        self->closed = 1;
+    self->closed = 1;
 
     if (self->pgconn) {
         PQfinish(self->pgconn);
-        PQfreeCancel(self->cancel);
-        Dprintf("conn_close: PQfinish called");
         self->pgconn = NULL;
+        Dprintf("conn_close: PQfinish called");
+        PQfreeCancel(self->cancel);
         self->cancel = NULL;
     }
 
diff --git a/psycopg/connection_type.c b/psycopg/connection_type.c
index 693de3ce..09ced62e 100644
--- a/psycopg/connection_type.c
+++ b/psycopg/connection_type.c
@@ -122,8 +122,6 @@ psyco_conn_cursor(connectionObject *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *keywds)
 static PyObject *
 psyco_conn_close(connectionObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
-    EXC_IF_CONN_CLOSED(self);
-
     Dprintf("psyco_conn_close: closing connection at %p", self);
     conn_close(self);
     Dprintf("psyco_conn_close: connection at %p closed", self);
diff --git a/psycopg/cursor_type.c b/psycopg/cursor_type.c
index bb9db691..4de01634 100644
--- a/psycopg/cursor_type.c
+++ b/psycopg/cursor_type.c
@@ -52,9 +52,12 @@ extern PyObject *pyPsycopgTzFixedOffsetTimezone;
 static PyObject *
 psyco_curs_close(cursorObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
-    EXC_IF_CURS_CLOSED(self);
     EXC_IF_ASYNC_IN_PROGRESS(self, close);
 
+    if (self->closed) {
+        goto exit;
+    }
+
     if (self->name != NULL) {
         char buffer[128];
 
@@ -66,6 +69,7 @@ psyco_curs_close(cursorObject *self, PyObject *args)
     self->closed = 1;
     Dprintf("psyco_curs_close: cursor at %p closed", self);
 
+exit:
     Py_INCREF(Py_None);
     return Py_None;
 }
diff --git a/tests/test_connection.py b/tests/test_connection.py
index 584bdb45..07400fa4 100755
--- a/tests/test_connection.py
+++ b/tests/test_connection.py
@@ -48,6 +48,12 @@ class ConnectionTests(unittest.TestCase):
         conn.close()
         self.assertEqual(conn.closed, True)
 
+    def test_close_idempotent(self):
+        conn = self.conn
+        conn.close()
+        conn.close()
+        self.assert_(conn.closed)
+
     def test_cursor_closed_attribute(self):
         conn = self.conn
         curs = conn.cursor()
diff --git a/tests/test_cursor.py b/tests/test_cursor.py
index 6286942e..051c9f27 100755
--- a/tests/test_cursor.py
+++ b/tests/test_cursor.py
@@ -37,6 +37,12 @@ class CursorTests(unittest.TestCase):
     def tearDown(self):
         self.conn.close()
 
+    def test_close_idempotent(self):
+        cur = self.conn.cursor()
+        cur.close()
+        cur.close()
+        self.assert_(cur.closed)
+
     def test_empty_query(self):
         cur = self.conn.cursor()
         self.assertRaises(psycopg2.ProgrammingError, cur.execute, "")