Index: lucene/core/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexWriter.java
===================================================================
--- lucene/core/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexWriter.java	(revision 1428441)
+++ lucene/core/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexWriter.java	(working copy)
@@ -453,6 +453,7 @@
     /** Remove all our references to readers, and commits
      *  any pending changes. */
     synchronized void dropAll(boolean doSave) throws IOException {
+      Throwable priorE = null;
       final Iterator<Map.Entry<SegmentInfoPerCommit,ReadersAndLiveDocs>> it = readerMap.entrySet().iterator();
       while(it.hasNext()) {
         final ReadersAndLiveDocs rld = it.next().getValue();
@@ -474,9 +475,18 @@
         // actually close the SRs; this happens when a
         // near real-time reader is kept open after the
         // IndexWriter instance is closed:
-        rld.dropReaders();
+        try {
+          rld.dropReaders();
+        } catch (Throwable t) {
+          if (priorE != null) {
+            priorE = t;
+          }
+        }
       }
       assert readerMap.size() == 0;
+      if (priorE != null) {
+        throw new RuntimeException(priorE);
+      }
     }
 
     /**