diff --git a/node/node.go b/node/node.go
index a7e8132e1c..1220751877 100644
--- a/node/node.go
+++ b/node/node.go
@@ -418,7 +418,6 @@ func (node *AlgorandFullNode) Stop() {
 	node.lowPriorityCryptoVerificationPool.Shutdown()
 	node.cryptoPool.Shutdown()
 	node.cancelCtx()
-	node.ledger.Close()
 }
 
 // note: unlike the other two functions, this accepts a whole filename