Sockets Error After Multiple HTTP Calls

My code needs to load a web page multiple times. But after a few successful http calls it fails with "Uncaught Error: No free sockets".

I've removed my project-specific code to provide the simplest example of this error:

var tries=0;

function onInit() {
  digitalWrite(B9,1); // enable on Pico Shim V2
  Serial2.setup(115200, { rx: A3, tx : A2 });
  var wifi = require("ESP8266WiFi_0v25").connect(Serial2, function(err) {
    if (err) throw err;
    wifi.reset(function(err) {
      if (err) throw err;
      console.log("Connecting to WiFi");
      wifi.connect("SSID","password", function(err) {
        if (err) throw err;
        console.log("Connected");

        setInterval(function () {
          require("http").get("http://www.google.com", function(res) {
          });
          console.log("Attempt #" + ++tries);
        }, 250);


      });
    });
  });
  
}

onInit();

Google.com is simply an example; it fails with any website.

When running the code you'll see the number of attempts increment until it fails around #7 or #8. Apparently the require("http") call generates it. Oddly, changing the interval from 250 to something larger generates different errors but the end result is the same: the Espruino freezes.

I really need this to work as there is no workaround. Can anyone provide some guidance?

Thanks,

-Neil