diff --git a/g10/tofu.c b/g10/tofu.c
index 03d8ebee9..cf1d00aae 100644
--- a/g10/tofu.c
+++ b/g10/tofu.c
@@ -732,7 +732,8 @@ busy_handler (void *cookie, int call_count)
          process will have to wait a bit longer, but otherwise nothing
          horrible should happen.  */
 
-      int fd = open (dbs->want_lock_file, O_CREAT);
+      int fd = open (dbs->want_lock_file, O_CREAT,
+                     S_IRUSR|S_IRGRP|S_IROTH|S_IWUSR);
       if (fd == -1)
         log_debug ("TOFU: Error opening '%s': %s\n",
                    dbs->want_lock_file, strerror (errno));