diff --git a/src/backup.c b/src/backup.c
index b568586e..3259e1a5 100644
--- a/src/backup.c
+++ b/src/backup.c
@@ -534,6 +534,9 @@ do_backup_instance(PGconn *backup_conn)
 		}
 	}
 
+	/* ssh connection to longer needed */
+	fio_disconnect();
+
 	/* Notify end of backup */
 	pg_stop_backup(&current, pg_startbackup_conn);
 
@@ -680,6 +683,9 @@ do_backup(time_t start_time, bool no_validate)
 	 */
 	check_system_identifiers(backup_conn, instance_config.pgdata);
 
+	/* ssh connection to longer needed */
+	fio_disconnect();
+
 	/* below perform checks specific for backup command */
 #if PG_VERSION_NUM >= 110000
 	if (!RetrieveWalSegSize(backup_conn))
@@ -2143,6 +2149,9 @@ backup_files(void *arg)
 			elog(WARNING, "unexpected file type %d", buf.st_mode);
 	}
 
+	/* ssh connection to longer needed */
+	fio_disconnect();
+
 	/* Close connection */
 	if (arguments->conn_arg.conn)
 		pgut_disconnect(arguments->conn_arg.conn);