diff --git a/pefile.py b/pefile.py
index f4b49fa..10270ee 100644
--- a/pefile.py
+++ b/pefile.py
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@
 import string
 import mmap
 import uuid
+import gc
+
 
 from collections import Counter
 from typing import Union
@@ -2962,6 +2964,7 @@ def _close_data(self):
         ):
             self.__data__.close()
             del self.__data__
+        gc.collect()
 
     def close(self):
         self._close_data()