diff --git a/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/AbstractImmutableNativeReference.java b/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/AbstractImmutableNativeReference.java
index 173d63e9011..66f3f2ec157 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/AbstractImmutableNativeReference.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/AbstractImmutableNativeReference.java
@@ -28,7 +28,10 @@ protected AbstractImmutableNativeReference(final boolean owningHandle) {
 
   @Override
   public boolean isOwningHandle() {
-    return owningHandle_.get();
+    if (!owningHandle_.get()) {
+      throw new RuntimeException("Object does not own its native handle.");
+    }
+    return true;
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/AbstractRocksIterator.java b/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/AbstractRocksIterator.java
index b7af848f0c5..fed91988832 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/AbstractRocksIterator.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/AbstractRocksIterator.java
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 package org.rocksdb;
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.util.function.Function;
 
 /**
  * Base class implementation for Rocks Iterators
@@ -24,9 +25,10 @@
 public abstract class AbstractRocksIterator<P extends RocksObject>
     extends RocksObject implements RocksIteratorInterface {
   final P parent_;
+  final Function<AbstractRocksIterator<P>, Boolean> removeOnClosure_;
 
   protected AbstractRocksIterator(final P parent,
-      final long nativeHandle) {
+      final long nativeHandle, final Function<AbstractRocksIterator<P>, Boolean> removeOnClosure) {
     super(nativeHandle);
     // parent must point to a valid RocksDB instance.
     assert (parent != null);
@@ -34,6 +36,12 @@ protected AbstractRocksIterator(final P parent,
     // to guarantee that while a GC cycle starts RocksIterator instances
     // are freed prior to parent instances.
     parent_ = parent;
+    removeOnClosure_ = removeOnClosure;
+  }
+
+  protected AbstractRocksIterator(final P parent,
+                                  final long nativeHandle) {
+    this(parent, nativeHandle, null);
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -120,6 +128,14 @@ public void status() throws RocksDBException {
     status0(nativeHandle_);
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public void close() {
+    super.close();
+    if (removeOnClosure_ != null) {
+      removeOnClosure_.apply(this);
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * <p>Deletes underlying C++ iterator pointer.</p>
    *
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/RocksDB.java b/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/RocksDB.java
index 2467d249b05..530be1d5501 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/RocksDB.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/RocksDB.java
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ private enum LibraryState {
 
   final List<ColumnFamilyHandle> ownedColumnFamilyHandles = new ArrayList<>();
 
+  final List<RocksIterator> ownedIterators = new ArrayList<>();
+
   /**
    * Loads the necessary library files.
    * Calling this method twice will have no effect.
@@ -674,6 +676,12 @@ public void closeE() throws RocksDBException {
   @SuppressWarnings("PMD.EmptyCatchBlock")
   @Override
   public void close() {
+    final List<RocksIterator> removeIterators = new ArrayList<>(ownedIterators);
+    for (final RocksIterator rocksIterator : removeIterators) {
+      //The lambda supplied to rocksIterator on construction will remove it from ownedIterators
+      rocksIterator.close();
+    }
+
     for (final ColumnFamilyHandle columnFamilyHandle : // NOPMD - CloseResource
         ownedColumnFamilyHandles) {
       columnFamilyHandle.close();
@@ -3262,8 +3270,7 @@ public KeyMayExist keyMayExist(final ColumnFamilyHandle columnFamilyHandle,
    * @return instance of iterator object.
    */
   public RocksIterator newIterator() {
-    return new RocksIterator(this,
-        iterator(nativeHandle_, defaultColumnFamilyHandle_.nativeHandle_,
+    return makeIterator(iterator(nativeHandle_, defaultColumnFamilyHandle_.nativeHandle_,
             defaultReadOptions_.nativeHandle_));
   }
 
@@ -3281,9 +3288,8 @@ public RocksIterator newIterator() {
    * @return instance of iterator object.
    */
   public RocksIterator newIterator(final ReadOptions readOptions) {
-    return new RocksIterator(this,
-        iterator(
-            nativeHandle_, defaultColumnFamilyHandle_.nativeHandle_, readOptions.nativeHandle_));
+    return makeIterator(iterator(
+        nativeHandle_, defaultColumnFamilyHandle_.nativeHandle_, readOptions.nativeHandle_));
   }
 
   /**
@@ -3302,7 +3308,7 @@ public RocksIterator newIterator(final ReadOptions readOptions) {
    */
   public RocksIterator newIterator(
       final ColumnFamilyHandle columnFamilyHandle) {
-    return new RocksIterator(this,
+    return makeIterator(
         iterator(
             nativeHandle_, columnFamilyHandle.nativeHandle_, defaultReadOptions_.nativeHandle_));
   }
@@ -3324,8 +3330,7 @@ public RocksIterator newIterator(
    */
   public RocksIterator newIterator(final ColumnFamilyHandle columnFamilyHandle,
       final ReadOptions readOptions) {
-    return new RocksIterator(
-        this, iterator(nativeHandle_, columnFamilyHandle.nativeHandle_, readOptions.nativeHandle_));
+    return makeIterator(iterator(nativeHandle_, columnFamilyHandle.nativeHandle_, readOptions.nativeHandle_));
   }
 
   /**
@@ -3376,7 +3381,7 @@ public List<RocksIterator> newIterators(
     final List<RocksIterator> iterators = new ArrayList<>(
         columnFamilyHandleList.size());
     for (int i=0; i<columnFamilyHandleList.size(); i++){
-      iterators.add(new RocksIterator(this, iteratorRefs[i]));
+      iterators.add(makeIterator(iteratorRefs[i]));
     }
     return iterators;
   }
@@ -4746,6 +4751,20 @@ public void deleteFilesInRanges(final ColumnFamilyHandle columnFamily, final Lis
         rangesArray, includeEnd);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Wrap a (newly created) native iterator in a RocksIterator,
+   * and record it in our list of owned iterators for consistent removal prior to db close.
+   *
+   * @param nativeIterator the native iterator to wrap
+   * @return the wrapped iterator
+   */
+  private RocksIterator makeIterator(final long nativeIterator) {
+    final RocksIterator rocksIterator = new RocksIterator(this, nativeIterator, ownedIterators::remove);
+    ownedIterators.add(rocksIterator);
+
+    return rocksIterator;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Static method to destroy the contents of the specified database.
    * Be very careful using this method.
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/RocksIterator.java b/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/RocksIterator.java
index 8e331d51845..c93f85ebd60 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/RocksIterator.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/org/rocksdb/RocksIterator.java
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import static org.rocksdb.util.BufferUtil.CheckBounds;
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.util.function.Function;
 
 /**
  * <p>An iterator that yields a sequence of key/value pairs from a source.
@@ -27,6 +28,10 @@ protected RocksIterator(final RocksDB rocksDB, final long nativeHandle) {
     super(rocksDB, nativeHandle);
   }
 
+  protected RocksIterator(final RocksDB rocksDB, final long nativeHandle, final Function<AbstractRocksIterator<RocksDB>, Boolean> removeOnClosure) {
+    super(rocksDB, nativeHandle, removeOnClosure);
+  }
+
   /**
    * <p>Return the key for the current entry.  The underlying storage for
    * the returned slice is valid only until the next modification of
diff --git a/java/src/test/java/org/rocksdb/IteratorClosedDBTest.java b/java/src/test/java/org/rocksdb/IteratorClosedDBTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..db3d3a6fa3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java/src/test/java/org/rocksdb/IteratorClosedDBTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+package org.rocksdb;
+
+import org.junit.ClassRule;
+import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.rules.TemporaryFolder;
+
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+public class IteratorClosedDBTest {
+
+    @ClassRule
+    public static final RocksNativeLibraryResource ROCKS_NATIVE_LIBRARY_RESOURCE =
+        new RocksNativeLibraryResource();
+
+    @Rule
+    public TemporaryFolder dbFolder = new TemporaryFolder();
+
+    @Test
+    public void resourceIterators() throws RocksDBException {
+        try (Options options = new Options().setCreateIfMissing(true); RocksDB db = RocksDB.open(options, dbFolder.getRoot().getAbsolutePath())) {
+
+            byte[] key = {0x1};
+            byte[] value = {0x2};
+            db.put(key, value);
+
+            try (RocksIterator it = db.newIterator()) {
+                it.seekToFirst();
+                assertThat(it.key()).isEqualTo(key);
+                assertThat(it.value()).isEqualTo(value);
+
+                it.next();
+                assertThat(it.isValid()).isFalse();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void ownedIterators() throws RocksDBException {
+        try (Options options = new Options().setCreateIfMissing(true); RocksDB db = RocksDB.open(options, dbFolder.getRoot().getAbsolutePath())) {
+
+            byte[] key = {0x1};
+            byte[] value = {0x2};
+            db.put(key, value);
+
+            RocksIterator it = db.newIterator();
+            it.seekToFirst();
+            assertThat(it.key()).isEqualTo(key);
+            assertThat(it.value()).isEqualTo(value);
+
+            it.next();
+            assertThat(it.isValid()).isFalse();
+        } //iterator is still open when we close the DB, C++ assertion in DEBUG_LEVEL=1
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldCrashJavaRocks() throws RocksDBException {
+        try (Options options = new Options().setCreateIfMissing(true)) {
+            RocksDB db = RocksDB.open(options, dbFolder.getRoot().getAbsolutePath());
+            byte[] key = {0x1};
+            byte[] value = {0x2};
+            db.put(key, value);
+
+            RocksIterator it = db.newIterator();
+            assertThat(it.isValid()).isFalse();
+            it.seekToFirst();
+            assertThat(it.isValid()).isTrue();
+
+            // Exception here (assertion failure in C++) - when built with DEBUG_LEVEL=1
+            // Outstanding iterator has a reference to the column family which is being closed
+            db.close();
+
+            assertThat(it.isValid()).isFalse();
+            it.close();
+        }
+    }
+}