diff --git a/fs/vfs/fs_close.c b/fs/vfs/fs_close.c
index 6425a2ce8b..f490b2e389 100644
--- a/fs/vfs/fs_close.c
+++ b/fs/vfs/fs_close.c
@@ -56,14 +56,63 @@
  * Public Functions
  ****************************************************************************/
 
+/****************************************************************************
+ * Name: nx_close
+ *
+ * Description:
+ *   nx_close() is similar to the standard 'close' interface except that is
+ *   not a cancellation point and it does not modify the errno variable.
+ *
+ *   nx_close() is an internal NuttX interface and should not be called from
+ *   applications.
+ *
+ * Returned Value:
+ *   The new file descriptor is returned on success; a negated errno value is
+ *   returned on any failure.
+ *
+ ****************************************************************************/
+
+int nx_close(int fd)
+{
+  /* Did we get a valid file descriptor? */
+
+  if (fd >= CONFIG_NFILE_DESCRIPTORS)
+    {
+      /* Close a socket descriptor */
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_NET
+      if (fd < (CONFIG_NFILE_DESCRIPTORS + CONFIG_NSOCKET_DESCRIPTORS))
+        {
+          return net_close(fd);
+        }
+      else
+#endif
+        {
+          return -EBADF;
+        }
+    }
+
+  /* Close the driver or mountpoint.  NOTES: (1) there is no
+   * exclusion mechanism here, the driver or mountpoint must be
+   * able to handle concurrent operations internally, (2) The driver
+   * may have been opened numerous times (for different file
+   * descriptors) and must also handle being closed numerous times.
+   * (3) for the case of the mountpoint, we depend on the close
+   * methods bing identical in signature and position in the operations
+   * vtable.
+   */
+
+  return files_close(fd);
+}
+
 /****************************************************************************
  * Name: close
  *
  * Description:
  *   close() closes a file descriptor, so that it no longer refers to any
  *   file and may be reused. Any record locks (see fcntl(2)) held on the file
- *   it was associated with, and owned by the process, are removed (regardless
- *   of the file descriptor that was used to obtain the lock).
+ *   it was associated with, and owned by the process, are removed
+ *   (regardless of the file descriptor that was used to obtain the lock).
  *
  *   If fd is the last copy of a particular file descriptor the resources
  *   associated with it are freed; if the descriptor was the last reference
@@ -81,64 +130,19 @@
 
 int close(int fd)
 {
-  int errcode;
   int ret;
 
   /* close() is a cancellation point */
 
   enter_cancellation_point();
 
-  /* Did we get a valid file descriptor? */
-
-  if ((unsigned int)fd >= CONFIG_NFILE_DESCRIPTORS)
-    {
-      /* Close a socket descriptor */
-
-#ifdef CONFIG_NET
-      if ((unsigned int)fd < (CONFIG_NFILE_DESCRIPTORS + CONFIG_NSOCKET_DESCRIPTORS))
-        {
-          ret = net_close(fd);
-          if (ret < 0)
-            {
-              errcode = -ret;
-              goto errout;
-            }
-
-          leave_cancellation_point();
-          return ret;
-        }
-      else
-#endif
-        {
-          errcode = EBADF;
-          goto errout;
-        }
-    }
-
-  /* Close the driver or mountpoint.  NOTES: (1) there is no
-   * exclusion mechanism here, the driver or mountpoint must be
-   * able to handle concurrent operations internally, (2) The driver
-   * may have been opened numerous times (for different file
-   * descriptors) and must also handle being closed numerous times.
-   * (3) for the case of the mountpoint, we depend on the close
-   * methods bing identical in signature and position in the operations
-   * vtable.
-   */
-
-  ret = files_close(fd);
+  ret = nx_close(fd);
   if (ret < 0)
     {
-      /* An error occurred while closing the driver */
-
-      errcode = -ret;
-      goto errout;
+      set_errno(-ret);
+      ret = ERROR;
     }
 
   leave_cancellation_point();
-  return OK;
-
-errout:
-  set_errno(errcode);
-  leave_cancellation_point();
-  return ERROR;
+  return ret;
 }
diff --git a/include/nuttx/fs/fs.h b/include/nuttx/fs/fs.h
index 4640424e81..0855d95588 100644
--- a/include/nuttx/fs/fs.h
+++ b/include/nuttx/fs/fs.h
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@
 #  else
 #    define _NX_OPEN           nx_open
 #  endif
+#  define _NX_CLOSE(f)         nx_close(f)
 #  define _NX_READ(f,b,s)      nx_read(f,b,s)
 #  define _NX_WRITE(f,b,s)     nx_write(f,b,s)
 #  define _NX_SEEK(f,o,w)      nx_seek(f,o,w)
@@ -89,6 +90,7 @@
 #  else
 #    define _NX_OPEN           open
 #  endif
+#  define _NX_CLOSE(f)         close(f)
 #  define _NX_READ(f,b,s)      read(f,b,s)
 #  define _NX_WRITE(f,b,s)     write(f,b,s)
 #  define _NX_SEEK(f,o,w)      lseek(f,o,w)
@@ -860,6 +862,24 @@ int file_detach(int fd, FAR struct file *filep);
 
 int file_close(FAR struct file *filep);
 
+/****************************************************************************
+ * Name: nx_close
+ *
+ * Description:
+ *   nx_close() is similar to the standard 'close' interface except that is
+ *   not a cancellation point and it does not modify the errno variable.
+ *
+ *   nx_close() is an internal NuttX interface and should not be called from
+ *   applications.
+ *
+ * Returned Value:
+ *   The new file descriptor is returned on success; a negated errno value is
+ *   returned on any failure.
+ *
+ ****************************************************************************/
+
+int nx_close(int fd);
+
 /****************************************************************************
  * Name: open_blockdriver
  *