diff --git a/lightningd/jsonrpc.c b/lightningd/jsonrpc.c
index cd0b3caf3..a89516554 100644
--- a/lightningd/jsonrpc.c
+++ b/lightningd/jsonrpc.c
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ static void parse_request(struct json_connection *jcon, const jsmntok_t tok[])
 
 	/* This is a convenient tal parent for duration of command
 	 * (which may outlive the conn!). */
-	c = tal(jcon->ld, struct command);
+	c = tal(jcon->ld->rpc_listener, struct command);
 	c->jcon = jcon;
 	c->ld = jcon->ld;
 	c->pending = false;
@@ -650,8 +650,7 @@ void setup_jsonrpc(struct lightningd *ld, const char *rpc_filename)
 		err(1, "Listening on '%s'", rpc_filename);
 
 	log_debug(ld->log, "Listening on '%s'", rpc_filename);
-	/* Technically this is a leak, but there's only one */
-	notleak(io_new_listener(ld, fd, incoming_jcon_connected, ld));
+	ld->rpc_listener = io_new_listener(ld->rpc_filename, fd, incoming_jcon_connected, ld);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -790,4 +789,3 @@ bool json_tok_wtx(struct wallet_tx * tx, const char * buffer,
         }
         return true;
 }
-
diff --git a/lightningd/lightningd.c b/lightningd/lightningd.c
index 8ea916ec9..3128fb6a5 100644
--- a/lightningd/lightningd.c
+++ b/lightningd/lightningd.c
@@ -462,6 +462,14 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	}
 
 	shutdown_subdaemons(ld);
+
+	/* Clean up the JSON-RPC. This needs to happen in a DB transaction since
+	 * it might actually be touching the DB in some destructors, e.g.,
+	 * unreserving UTXOs (see #1737) */
+	db_begin_transaction(ld->wallet->db);
+	tal_free(ld->rpc_listener);
+	db_commit_transaction(ld->wallet->db);
+
 	close(pid_fd);
 	remove(ld->pidfile);
 
diff --git a/lightningd/lightningd.h b/lightningd/lightningd.h
index 1fe8fb3f4..b164eb757 100644
--- a/lightningd/lightningd.h
+++ b/lightningd/lightningd.h
@@ -78,8 +78,15 @@ struct lightningd {
 
 	/* Our config dir, and rpc file */
 	char *config_dir;
+
+	/* Location of the RPC socket. */
 	char *rpc_filename;
 
+	/* The listener for the RPC socket. Can be shut down separately from the
+	 * rest of the daemon to allow a clean shutdown, which frees all pending
+	 * cmds in a DB transaction. */
+	struct io_listener *rpc_listener;
+
 	/* Configuration file name */
 	char *config_filename;
 	/* Configuration settings. */
diff --git a/tests/test_rpc.py b/tests/test_rpc.py
index 06020d848..ab57dc0a7 100644
--- a/tests/test_rpc.py
+++ b/tests/test_rpc.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 from fixtures import *  # noqa: F401,F403
 
 import os
-import pytest
 import signal
 import unittest
 
@@ -11,13 +10,13 @@ with open('config.vars') as configfile:
 DEVELOPER = os.getenv("DEVELOPER", config['DEVELOPER']) == "1"
 
 
-@pytest.mark.xfail(strict=True)
 @unittest.skipIf(not DEVELOPER, "needs --dev-disconnect")
 def test_stop_pending_fundchannel(node_factory, executor):
     """Stop the daemon while waiting for an accept_channel
 
-    This used to crash the node, since we were calling unreserve_utxo while freeing
-    the daemon, but that needs a DB transaction to be open.
+    This used to crash the node, since we were calling unreserve_utxo while
+    freeing the daemon, but that needs a DB transaction to be open.
+
     """
     l1 = node_factory.get_node()
     l2 = node_factory.get_node()