diff --git a/pkg/routing/localrouter.go b/pkg/routing/localrouter.go
index b0fcbbccb..01687ef3f 100644
--- a/pkg/routing/localrouter.go
+++ b/pkg/routing/localrouter.go
@@ -142,7 +142,6 @@ func (r *LocalRouter) WriteNodeRTC(_ context.Context, _ string, msg *livekit.RTC
 }
 
 func (r *LocalRouter) writeRTCMessage(sink MessageSink, msg *livekit.RTCNodeMessage) error {
-	defer sink.Close()
 	msg.SenderTime = time.Now().Unix()
 	return sink.WriteMessage(msg)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/routing/redisrouter.go b/pkg/routing/redisrouter.go
index a3e7e8365..ace768a11 100644
--- a/pkg/routing/redisrouter.go
+++ b/pkg/routing/redisrouter.go
@@ -215,6 +215,7 @@ func (r *RedisRouter) WriteParticipantRTC(_ context.Context, roomName livekit.Ro
 	rtcSink := NewRTCNodeSink(r.rc, livekit.NodeID(rtcNode), "ephemeral", pkey, pkeyB62)
 	msg.ParticipantKey = string(ParticipantKeyLegacy(roomName, identity))
 	msg.ParticipantKeyB62 = string(ParticipantKey(roomName, identity))
+	defer rtcSink.Close()
 	return r.writeRTCMessage(rtcSink, msg)
 }
 
@@ -230,6 +231,7 @@ func (r *RedisRouter) WriteRoomRTC(ctx context.Context, roomName livekit.RoomNam
 
 func (r *RedisRouter) WriteNodeRTC(_ context.Context, rtcNodeID string, msg *livekit.RTCNodeMessage) error {
 	rtcSink := NewRTCNodeSink(r.rc, livekit.NodeID(rtcNodeID), "ephemeral", livekit.ParticipantKey(msg.ParticipantKey), livekit.ParticipantKey(msg.ParticipantKeyB62))
+	defer rtcSink.Close()
 	return r.writeRTCMessage(rtcSink, msg)
 }