diff --git a/hydromt_sfincs/sfincs.py b/hydromt_sfincs/sfincs.py
index c89a1161..19e47866 100644
--- a/hydromt_sfincs/sfincs.py
+++ b/hydromt_sfincs/sfincs.py
@@ -3189,6 +3189,7 @@ def read_forcing(self, data_vars: List = None):
         for name in dvars_2d:
             fname, rename = self._FORCING_NET[name]
             fn = self.get_config(f"{fname}file", abs_path=True)
+            ds = None
             if fn is None or not isfile(fn):
                 if fn is not None:
                     self.logger.warning(f"{name}file not found at {fn}")
@@ -3196,7 +3197,7 @@ def read_forcing(self, data_vars: List = None):
             elif name in ["netbndbzsbzi", "netsrcdis"]:
                 ds = GeoDataset.from_netcdf(fn, crs=self.crs, chunks="auto")
             else:
-                ds = xr.load_dataset(fn, chunks="auto")
+                ds = xr.open_dataset(fn, chunks="auto")
 
             rename = {k: v for k, v in rename.items() if k in ds}
             if len(rename) > 0:
@@ -3205,6 +3206,9 @@ def read_forcing(self, data_vars: List = None):
             else:
                 logger.warning(f"No forcing variables found in {fname}file")
 
+            if ds is not None:
+                ds.close()
+
     def write_forcing(self, data_vars: Union[List, str] = None, fmt: str = "%7.2f"):
         """Write forcing to ascii or netcdf (netampr) files.
         Filenames are based on the `config` attribute.