lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm        | 22 ++++++++++++++++++++--
 lib/PublicInbox/LeiXSearch.pm |  9 ++-------

diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
index 743725322d3084f2f649c669d7a4c8cf0b81db47..878685f1ad0527390dd7d6ac71a6639ac970cd82 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
@@ -482,6 +482,24 @@ 	$quit = \&CORE::exit;
 	$current_lei = $persist ? undef : $self; # for SIG{__WARN__}
 }
 
+sub _delete_pkt_op { # OnDestroy callback to prevent leaks on die
+	my ($self) = @_;
+	if (my $op = delete $self->{pkt_op_c}) { # in case of die
+		$op->close; # PublicInbox::PktOp::close
+	}
+	my $unclosed_after_die = delete($self->{pkt_op_p}) or return;
+	close $unclosed_after_die;
+}
+
+sub pkt_op_pair {
+	my ($self, $ops) = @_;
+	require PublicInbox::OnDestroy;
+	require PublicInbox::PktOp;
+	my $end = PublicInbox::OnDestroy->new($$, \&_delete_pkt_op, $self);
+	@$self{qw(pkt_op_c pkt_op_p)} = PublicInbox::PktOp->pair($ops);
+	$end;
+}
+
 sub workers_start {
 	my ($lei, $wq, $ident, $jobs, $ops) = @_;
 	$ops = {
@@ -492,11 +510,11 @@ 		'child_error' => [ \&child_error, $lei ],
 		($ops ? %$ops : ()),
 	};
 	$ops->{''} //= [ \&dclose, $lei ];
-	require PublicInbox::PktOp;
-	($lei->{pkt_op_c}, $lei->{pkt_op_p}) = PublicInbox::PktOp->pair($ops);
+	my $end = $lei->pkt_op_pair($ops);
 	$wq->wq_workers_start($ident, $jobs, $lei->oldset, { lei => $lei });
 	delete $lei->{pkt_op_p};
 	my $op = delete $lei->{pkt_op_c};
+	@$end = ();
 	$lei->event_step_init;
 	# oneshot needs $op, daemon-mode uses DS->EventLoop to handle $op
 	$lei->{oneshot} ? $op : undef;
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiXSearch.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiXSearch.pm
index c6b82eeb5bcf31cf285c451f4b163b730e950bd2..58b6cfc01709f933ec273df8b5790eadda9a9f78 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiXSearch.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiXSearch.pm
@@ -406,11 +406,6 @@ 	$SIG{__WARN__} = PublicInbox::Eml::warn_ignore_cb();
 	$self->SUPER::ipc_atfork_child;
 }
 
-sub delete_pkt_op { # OnDestroy callback
-	my $unclosed_after_die = delete($_[0])->{pkt_op_p} or return;
-	close $unclosed_after_die;
-}
-
 sub do_query {
 	my ($self, $lei) = @_;
 	my $l2m = $lei->{l2m};
@@ -426,8 +421,7 @@ 		'child_error' => [ $lei->can('child_error'), $lei ],
 		'incr_start_query' => [ \&incr_start_query, $self, $l2m ],
 	};
 	$lei->{auth}->op_merge($ops, $l2m) if $l2m && $lei->{auth};
-	my $od = PublicInbox::OnDestroy->new($$, \&delete_pkt_op, $lei);
-	($lei->{pkt_op_c}, $lei->{pkt_op_p}) = PublicInbox::PktOp->pair($ops);
+	my $end = $lei->pkt_op_pair($ops);
 	$lei->{1}->autoflush(1);
 	$lei->start_pager if delete $lei->{need_pager};
 	$lei->{ovv}->ovv_begin($lei);
@@ -446,6 +440,7 @@ 	$self->wq_workers_start('lei_xsearch', undef,
 				$lei->oldset, { lei => $lei });
 	my $op = delete $lei->{pkt_op_c};
 	delete $lei->{pkt_op_p};
+	@$end = ();
 	$self->{threads} = $lei->{opt}->{threads};
 	if ($l2m) {
 		$l2m->net_merge_complete unless $lei->{auth};