diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ResolvedURL.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ResolvedURL.java
index 5c435da9..35982727 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ResolvedURL.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ResolvedURL.java
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 package fr.jayasoft.ivy;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.net.URLConnection;
 
@@ -31,12 +32,17 @@ public class ResolvedURL implements ArtifactInfo {
 
     public long getLastModified() {
         if (_lastModified == null) {
+            URLConnection con = null;
             try {
-                URLConnection con = url.openConnection();
+                con = url.openConnection();
                 _lastModified = new Long(con.getLastModified());
             } catch (IOException e) {
                 Message.warn("impossible to open connection to "+url+": "+e.getMessage());
                 _lastModified = new Long(0);
+            } finally {
+                if (con instanceof HttpURLConnection) {
+                    ((HttpURLConnection)con).disconnect();
+                }
             }
         }
         return _lastModified.longValue();
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/url/URLResource.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/url/URLResource.java
index ff0a8d56..c80ea993 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/url/URLResource.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/url/URLResource.java
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 package fr.jayasoft.ivy.repository.url;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.net.URLConnection;
 
@@ -37,18 +38,23 @@ public class URLResource implements Resource {
     }
 
     private void init() {
+        URLConnection con = null;
         try {
             _lastModified = 0;
             _contentLength = 0;
             _exists = URLHandlerRegistry.getDefault().isReachable(_url);
             if (_exists) {
-                URLConnection con = _url.openConnection();
+                con = _url.openConnection();
                 _lastModified = con.getLastModified();
                 _contentLength = con.getContentLength();
             }
         } catch (IOException e) {
             Message.verbose("impossible to open connection to "+_url+":"+e.getMessage());
             _exists = false;
+        } finally {
+            if (con instanceof HttpURLConnection) {
+                ((HttpURLConnection)con).disconnect();
+            }
         }
         _init = true;
     }
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/ResolverHelper.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/ResolverHelper.java
index 18902f9a..378d8715 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/ResolverHelper.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/ResolverHelper.java
@@ -85,17 +85,22 @@ public class ResolverHelper {
             String fileSep = rep.getFileSeparator();
             Message.debug("\tusing "+rep+" to list all in "+parent);
             List all = rep.list(parent);
-            Message.debug("\t\tfound "+all.size()+" resources");
-            List names = new ArrayList(all.size());
-            for (Iterator iter = all.iterator(); iter.hasNext();) {
-                String path = (String)iter.next();
-               if (path.endsWith(fileSep)) {
-                    path = path.substring(0, path.length() - 1);
+            if (all != null) {
+                Message.debug("\t\tfound "+all.size()+" resources");
+                List names = new ArrayList(all.size());
+                for (Iterator iter = all.iterator(); iter.hasNext();) {
+                    String path = (String)iter.next();
+                   if (path.endsWith(fileSep)) {
+                        path = path.substring(0, path.length() - 1);
+                    }
+                    int slashIndex = path.lastIndexOf(fileSep);
+                    names.add(path.substring(slashIndex +1));
                 }
-                int slashIndex = path.lastIndexOf(fileSep);
-                names.add(path.substring(slashIndex +1));
+                return (String[])names.toArray(new String[names.size()]);
+            } else {
+                Message.debug("\t\tno resources found");
+                return null;
             }
-            return (String[])names.toArray(new String[names.size()]);
         } catch (Exception e) {
             Message.warn("problem while listing resources in "+parent+" with "+rep+": "+e.getClass()+" "+e.getMessage());
             return null;
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/url/BasicURLHandler.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/url/BasicURLHandler.java
index 0ea30a67..d2255c9d 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/url/BasicURLHandler.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/url/BasicURLHandler.java
@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@ public class BasicURLHandler implements URLHandler {
         return isReachable(url, 0);
     }
     public boolean isReachable(URL url, int timeout) {
+        URLConnection con = null;
         try {
-            URLConnection con = url.openConnection();
+            con = url.openConnection();
             if (con instanceof HttpURLConnection) {
                 int status = ((HttpURLConnection)con).getResponseCode();
                 if (status == HttpStatus.SC_OK) {
@@ -54,6 +55,10 @@ public class BasicURLHandler implements URLHandler {
             Message.info("You probably access the destination server through a proxy server that is not well configured.");
         } catch (IOException e) {
             Message.error("Server access Error: "+e.getMessage()+" url="+url);
+        } finally {
+            if (con instanceof HttpURLConnection) {
+                ((HttpURLConnection)con).disconnect();
+            }
         }
         return false;
     }