diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c886fba47db2cb3afe03a0746459ae8ecb041424..110fb7a28c084afe357bda1952f7eaa7588f1153 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ tox -e debug tests.requests.test_prometheus
 
 ## Release notes
 
+- 0.18.9 - Fix handling of closing streams on HDF5 files
 - 0.18.8 - Migrate case insensitive dict from station control
 - 0.18.7 - Add support for various ZeroMQ package receivers
 - 0.18.6 - Compatability with new black versions
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 0f2596acd87483a7374c252cc9ff57e0a58b92ba..cc7b205a893a20a8cd35838153284f59771c4dea 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.18.8
+0.18.9
diff --git a/lofar_station_client/statistics/reader/entry.py b/lofar_station_client/statistics/reader/entry.py
index 2ecc10e5649b21413aaedb06dd84bee7ef479e4f..f819d48897a4fd1d8083fcb1d45f349d092b4aea 100644
--- a/lofar_station_client/statistics/reader/entry.py
+++ b/lofar_station_client/statistics/reader/entry.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#  Copyright (C) 2023 ASTRON (Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy)
+#  Copyright (C) 2024 ASTRON (Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy)
 #  SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ class StatisticsParser:
             logger.debug("Parsing hdf5 statistics file")
 
             with hdf5_file as statistic_data:
+                hdf5_file.load(statistic_data)
                 if self.file_header is None:
                     self.file_header = statistic_data
                 elif not StatisticsFileHeader.__eq__(self.file_header, statistic_data):
diff --git a/tests/statistics/test_writer.py b/tests/statistics/test_writer.py
index eff047ebe452b5ff77731efd5bfb51086b51751d..60d1d2de0d7c0234e2c13f676424d459f30471f0 100644
--- a/tests/statistics/test_writer.py
+++ b/tests/statistics/test_writer.py
@@ -1,16 +1,19 @@
-# Copyright (C) 2022 ASTRON (Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy)
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#  Copyright (C) 2024 ASTRON (Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy)
+#  SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
+import sys
 from os.path import dirname, isfile
 from tempfile import TemporaryDirectory
+from typing import Tuple
 from unittest import mock
 from unittest.mock import patch
-from typing import Tuple
-import sys
+
 import h5py
 import numpy
 
+from lofar_station_client import __version__ as lsc_version
 from lofar_station_client.dts.constants import N_pol
+from lofar_station_client.statistics.reader import entry as reader_entry
 from lofar_station_client.statistics.statistics_data import (
     StatisticsData,
     StatisticsFileHeader,
@@ -20,8 +23,7 @@ from lofar_station_client.statistics.writer import (
     hdf5,
     __version__ as writer_version,
 )
-from lofar_station_client import __version__ as lsc_version
-from lofar_station_client.statistics.reader import entry as reader_entry
+from tests import base
 from tests.test_devices import (
     FakeAntennaFieldDeviceProxy,
     FakeOffAntennaFieldDeviceProxy,
@@ -31,7 +33,6 @@ from tests.test_devices import (
     FakeSDPFirmwareDeviceProxy,
     FakeStationManagerDeviceProxy,
 )
-from tests import base
 
 
 class TestStatisticsReaderWriter(base.TestCase):