diff --git a/mercurial/transaction.py b/mercurial/transaction.py
--- a/mercurial/transaction.py
+++ b/mercurial/transaction.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ class transaction:
 
     def __del__(self):
         if self.entries: self.abort()
+        self.close()
 
     def add(self, file, offset):
         self.entries.append((file, offset))
@@ -48,11 +49,6 @@ class transaction:
 
         self.entries = []
 
-        try:
-            os.unlink(self.journal)
-            self.file.close()
-        except: pass
-
         print "rollback completed"
         
     def recover(self):