diff --git a/wrapper.c b/wrapper.c
index 0349441bde..7c126b87c5 100644
--- a/wrapper.c
+++ b/wrapper.c
@@ -644,9 +644,7 @@ void write_file(const char *path, const char *fmt, ...)
 {
 	va_list params;
 	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
-	int fd = open(path, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC, 0666);
-	if (fd < 0)
-		die_errno(_("could not open %s for writing"), path);
+	int fd = xopen(path, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC, 0666);
 
 	va_start(params, fmt);
 	strbuf_vaddf(&sb, fmt, params);