diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 54a5a788c..456658f11 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -65,6 +65,9 @@ o [GH#2199] Updated Nmap's NPSL license to rewrite a poorly-worded
   Version 0.93 of the NPSL so that users and distributors may choose
   either version of the license.
 
+o [NSE] Loading of a Nikto database failed if the file was referenced
+  relative to the Nmap directory [nnposter]
+
 o [NSE][GH#2208][GH#2203] SMB2 dialect handling has been redesigned. Visible
   changes include:
   * Notable improvement in speed of script smb-protocols and others
diff --git a/nselib/data/http-fingerprints.lua b/nselib/data/http-fingerprints.lua
index 9de9b2da5..7cf158033 100644
--- a/nselib/data/http-fingerprints.lua
+++ b/nselib/data/http-fingerprints.lua
@@ -12718,10 +12718,12 @@ local stdnse = require "stdnse"
 local nmap = require "nmap"
 
 nikto_db_path = stdnse.get_script_args("http-fingerprints.nikto-db-path") or "db_tests"
-local f = nmap.fetchfile(nikto_db_path) or io.open(nikto_db_path, "r")
+nikto_db_path = nmap.fetchfile(nikto_db_path) or nikto_db_path
+local f = io.open(nikto_db_path, "r")
 
 if f then
 
+  f:close()
   stdnse.debug1("Found nikto db.")
 
   local nikto_db = {}