diff --git a/lib/fluent/plugin/out_forward/socket_cache.rb b/lib/fluent/plugin/out_forward/socket_cache.rb
index 925eef0fad..fbee8af943 100644
--- a/lib/fluent/plugin/out_forward/socket_cache.rb
+++ b/lib/fluent/plugin/out_forward/socket_cache.rb
@@ -31,20 +31,26 @@ def initialize(timeout, log)
       end
 
       def checkout_or(key)
+        obsolete_sockets = []
+
         @mutex.synchronize do
-          tsock = pick_socket(key)
+          tsock, obsolete_sockets = pick_socket(key)
 
           if tsock
-            tsock.sock
+            return tsock.sock
           else
             sock = yield
             new_tsock = TimedSocket.new(timeout, key, sock)
             @log.debug("connect new socket #{new_tsock}")
 
             @inflight_sockets[sock] = new_tsock
-            new_tsock.sock
+            return new_tsock.sock
           end
         end
+      ensure
+        obsolete_sockets.each do |sock|
+          sock.sock.close rescue nil
+        end
       end
 
       def checkin(sock)
@@ -117,17 +123,32 @@ def clear
       # this method is not thread safe
       def pick_socket(key)
         if @available_sockets[key].empty?
-          return nil
+          return nil, []
         end
 
         t = Time.now
-        if (s = @available_sockets[key].find { |sock| !expired_socket?(sock, time: t) })
-          @inflight_sockets[s.sock] = @available_sockets[key].delete(s)
-          s.timeout = timeout
-          s
-        else
-          nil
+        selected = nil
+        remaining = []
+        obsolete_sockets = []
+
+        @available_sockets[key].each do |sock|
+          if expired_socket?(sock, time: t) || unavailable_socket?(sock.sock)
+            obsolete_sockets << sock
+          elsif selected.nil?
+            selected = sock
+          else
+            remaining << sock
+          end
+        end
+
+        @available_sockets[key] = remaining
+
+        if selected
+          @inflight_sockets[selected.sock] = selected
+          selected.timeout = timeout
         end
+
+        [selected, obsolete_sockets]
       end
 
       def timeout
@@ -137,6 +158,20 @@ def timeout
       def expired_socket?(sock, time: Time.now)
         sock.timeout ? sock.timeout < time : false
       end
+
+      def unavailable_socket?(sock)
+        return sock.closed? if sock.respond_to?(:closed?) && sock.closed?
+
+        io = if sock.respond_to?(:to_io)
+               sock.to_io
+             elsif sock.is_a?(IO)
+               sock
+             end
+
+        io ? !!IO.select([io], nil, nil, 0) : false
+      rescue IOError, SystemCallError
+        true
+      end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/test/plugin/out_forward/test_socket_cache.rb b/test/plugin/out_forward/test_socket_cache.rb
index 1d584d6b4e..eacd4e3caa 100644
--- a/test/plugin/out_forward/test_socket_cache.rb
+++ b/test/plugin/out_forward/test_socket_cache.rb
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 require 'fluent/plugin/out_forward/socket_cache'
 require 'timecop'
+require 'socket'
 
 class SocketCacheTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   sub_test_case 'checkout_or' do
@@ -48,6 +49,38 @@ class SocketCacheTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
         c.checkout_or('key') { 'new socket' }
       end
     end
+
+    test 'discards cached socket after remote close' do
+      c = Fluent::Plugin::ForwardOutput::SocketCache.new(10, $log)
+      server = TCPServer.open('127.0.0.1', unused_port(protocol: :tcp))
+      first_sock = TCPSocket.new('127.0.0.1', server.addr[1])
+      first_peer = server.accept
+
+      c.checkout_or('key') { first_sock }
+      c.checkin(first_sock)
+
+      first_peer.close
+      waiting(5) do
+        until IO.select([first_sock], nil, nil, 0)
+          sleep 0.01
+        end
+      end
+
+      second_peer = nil
+      second_sock = c.checkout_or('key') do
+        sock = TCPSocket.new('127.0.0.1', server.addr[1])
+        second_peer = server.accept
+        sock
+      end
+
+      assert_not_same(first_sock, second_sock)
+      assert_true(first_sock.closed?)
+    ensure
+      c&.clear
+      first_peer&.close rescue nil
+      second_peer&.close rescue nil
+      server&.close rescue nil
+    end
   end
 
   sub_test_case 'checkin' do