diff --git a/src/mdbx.c b/src/mdbx.c
index 091b4921..bdf3185f 100644
--- a/src/mdbx.c
+++ b/src/mdbx.c
@@ -6489,8 +6489,10 @@ int __cold mdbx_env_open(MDBX_env *env, const char *path, unsigned flags,
   int oflags;
   if (F_ISSET(flags, MDBX_RDONLY))
     oflags = O_RDONLY;
-  else
+  else if (mode != 0)
     oflags = O_RDWR | O_CREAT;
+  else
+    oflags = O_RDWR;
 
   rc = mdbx_openfile(dxb_pathname, oflags, mode, &env->me_fd,
                      (env->me_flags & MDBX_EXCLUSIVE) ? true : false);