diff --git a/lib/sysxattrs.c b/lib/sysxattrs.c
index 76b6802d..ec11d7d9 100644
--- a/lib/sysxattrs.c
+++ b/lib/sysxattrs.c
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ int sys_lsetxattr(const char *path, const char *name, const void *value, size_t
 	size_t bufpos;
 	mode_t mode = S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR | S_IRGRP | S_IWGRP;
 
-	if ((attrfd = attropen(path, name, O_CREAT|O_WRONLY|O_NOFOLLOW, mode)) < 0)
+	if ((attrfd = attropen(path, name, O_CREAT|O_TRUNC|O_WRONLY, mode)) < 0)
 		return -1;
 
 	for (bufpos = 0; bufpos < size; ) {