diff --git a/sys/kern/vfs_syscalls.c b/sys/kern/vfs_syscalls.c
index fbb1e1cdda9..45a9a0c2bd4 100644
--- a/sys/kern/vfs_syscalls.c
+++ b/sys/kern/vfs_syscalls.c
@@ -1147,7 +1147,7 @@ openatfp(struct thread *td, int dirfd, const char *path,
 	 * except O_EXEC is ignored.
 	 */
 	if ((flags & O_PATH) != 0) {
-		flags &= ~(O_CREAT | O_ACCMODE);
+		flags &= ~O_ACCMODE;
 	} else if ((flags & O_EXEC) != 0) {
 		if (flags & O_ACCMODE)
 			return (EINVAL);