diff --git a/src/vlib/unix/input.c b/src/vlib/unix/input.c
index 0a61c05..8be0770 100644
--- a/src/vlib/unix/input.c
+++ b/src/vlib/unix/input.c
@@ -247,11 +247,40 @@
   for (e = em->epoll_events; e < em->epoll_events + n_fds_ready; e++)
     {
       u32 i = e->data.u32;
-      clib_file_t *f = pool_elt_at_index (fm->file_pool, i);
+      clib_file_t *f = fm->file_pool + i;
       clib_error_t *errors[4];
       int n_errors = 0;
 
-      if (PREDICT_TRUE (!(e->events & EPOLLERR)))
+      if (PREDICT_FALSE (pool_is_free (fm->file_pool, f)))
+	{
+	  /*
+	   * Under rare scenerop, epoll may still post us events for the
+	   * deleted file descriptor. We just deal with it and throw away the
+	   * events for the corresponding file descriptor.
+	   */
+	  if (e->events & EPOLLIN)
+	    {
+	      errors[n_errors] =
+		clib_error_return (0, "epoll event EPOLLIN dropped due "
+				   "to free index %u", i);
+	      n_errors++;
+	    }
+	  if (e->events & EPOLLOUT)
+	    {
+	      errors[n_errors] =
+		clib_error_return (0, "epoll event EPOLLOUT dropped due "
+				   "to free index %u", i);
+	      n_errors++;
+	    }
+	  if (e->events & EPOLLERR)
+	    {
+	      errors[n_errors] =
+		clib_error_return (0, "epoll event EPOLLERR dropped due "
+				   "to free index %u", i);
+	      n_errors++;
+	    }
+	}
+      else if (PREDICT_TRUE (!(e->events & EPOLLERR)))
 	{
 	  if (e->events & EPOLLIN)
 	    {