diff --git a/src/borg/helpers/fs.py b/src/borg/helpers/fs.py
index 24c525d25..1f39d58df 100644
--- a/src/borg/helpers/fs.py
+++ b/src/borg/helpers/fs.py
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ def O_(*flags):
     return result
 
 
-flags_base = O_('BINARY', 'NONBLOCK', 'NOCTTY')  # later: add 'NOFOLLOW'
+flags_base = O_('BINARY', 'NONBLOCK', 'NOCTTY', 'NOFOLLOW')
 flags_normal = flags_base | O_('RDONLY')
 flags_noatime = flags_normal | O_('NOATIME')
 flags_root = O_('RDONLY')