diff --git a/src/Transport/Curl.php b/src/Transport/Curl.php
index df98894a3..5547ec670 100644
--- a/src/Transport/Curl.php
+++ b/src/Transport/Curl.php
@@ -201,12 +201,14 @@ public function request($url, $headers = array(), $data = array(), $options = ar
 			$response = $this->response_data;
 		}
 
-		$this->process_response($response, $options);
+		if (true === $options['blocking']) {
+			// Need to remove the $this reference from the curl handle.
+			// Otherwise \WpOrg\Requests\Transport\Curl wont be garbage collected and the curl_close() will never be called.
+			curl_setopt($this->handle, CURLOPT_HEADERFUNCTION, null);
+			curl_setopt($this->handle, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION, null);
+		}
 
-		// Need to remove the $this reference from the curl handle.
-		// Otherwise \WpOrg\Requests\Transport\Curl won't be garbage collected and the curl_close() will never be called.
-		curl_setopt($this->handle, CURLOPT_HEADERFUNCTION, null);
-		curl_setopt($this->handle, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION, null);
+		$this->process_response($response, $options);
 
 		return $this->headers;
 	}