diff --git a/git_cl.py b/git_cl.py
index 8f55a5296b..0dc18b5659 100755
--- a/git_cl.py
+++ b/git_cl.py
@@ -5692,7 +5692,8 @@ def CMDset_close(parser, args):
   cl = Changelist(auth_config=auth_config, issue=options.issue,
                   codereview=options.forced_codereview)
   # Ensure there actually is an issue to close.
-  cl.GetDescription()
+  if not cl.GetIssue():
+    DieWithError('ERROR No issue to close')
   cl.CloseIssue()
   return 0