diff --git a/src/liblwevent/200_eventloop.c b/src/liblwevent/200_eventloop.c
index 0aec47a..a210568 100644
--- a/src/liblwevent/200_eventloop.c
+++ b/src/liblwevent/200_eventloop.c
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 /* lwevent_epoll_fd
  *  File descriptor returned by epoll_create(). Initialised in lwevent_init().
  */
-int lwevent_epoll_fd;
+static int lwevent_epoll_fd;
 
 
 
@@ -60,6 +60,12 @@ int lwevent_init(void)
         return -1;
     }
 
+    if(lwevent_cloexec(lwevent_epoll_fd)) {
+        free(_lw_revents);
+        close(lwevent_epoll_fd);
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/liblwevent/200_eventloop.h b/src/liblwevent/200_eventloop.h
index 4b7f183..9289cc9 100644
--- a/src/liblwevent/200_eventloop.h
+++ b/src/liblwevent/200_eventloop.h
@@ -18,17 +18,6 @@ program should exit), and lwevent_wait(), which implements a single run of the e
 
 
 
-/*! \brief Event loop file descriptor.
-
-The file descriptor returned from \c epoll_create(2). Use of this file descriptor is not 
-recommended, although it is made available in case an application ever needs to access it (perhaps
-to close after a \c fork(2), etc.).
-
-*/
-extern int lwevent_epoll_fd;
-
-
-
 /*! \brief Initialise library.
 
 \retval 0 on success.