diff --git a/src/icartt/dataset.py b/src/icartt/dataset.py
index aa6b781e7b8f52381c5172740882013799eba11e..fd9cdc3beb5fa11209ed864407a1ecf20db4c6fb 100644
--- a/src/icartt/dataset.py
+++ b/src/icartt/dataset.py
@@ -853,12 +853,9 @@ class Dataset:
             )
 
     def __del__(self):
-        # TODO: refactor following try/except statement
-        try:
+        if self.inputFhandle:
             if not self.inputFhandle.closed:
                 self.inputFhandle.close()
-        except:
-            pass
 
     def __repr__(self):
         # TODO: this could be more meaningful