diff --git a/programs/fileio.c b/programs/fileio.c
index 3c45a986..12e1537e 100644
--- a/programs/fileio.c
+++ b/programs/fileio.c
@@ -566,6 +566,7 @@ static FILE* FIO_openDstFile(FIO_prefs_t* const prefs, const char* srcFileName,
     {   FILE* const f = fopen( dstFileName, "wb" );
         if (f == NULL)
             DISPLAYLEVEL(1, "zstd: %s: %s\n", dstFileName, strerror(errno));
+        chmod(dstFileName, 00600);
         return f;
     }
 }