diff --git a/util/oslib-posix.c b/util/oslib-posix.c
index 9751bc6be9..bcb35c3c82 100644
--- a/util/oslib-posix.c
+++ b/util/oslib-posix.c
@@ -138,9 +138,8 @@ bool qemu_write_pidfile(const char *path, Error **errp)
             .l_len = 0,
         };
 
-        fd = qemu_open_old(path, O_CREAT | O_WRONLY, S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR);
+        fd = qemu_create(path, O_WRONLY, S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR, errp);
         if (fd == -1) {
-            error_setg_errno(errp, errno, "Cannot open pid file");
             return false;
         }