diff --git a/util/osdep.c b/util/osdep.c
index 7504c156e8..11531e8f59 100644
--- a/util/osdep.c
+++ b/util/osdep.c
@@ -296,10 +296,10 @@ static int qemu_open_cloexec(const char *name, int flags, mode_t mode)
 /*
  * Opens a file with FD_CLOEXEC set
  */
-int qemu_open_old(const char *name, int flags, ...)
+static int
+qemu_open_internal(const char *name, int flags, mode_t mode)
 {
     int ret;
-    int mode = 0;
 
 #ifndef _WIN32
     const char *fdset_id_str;
@@ -324,16 +324,26 @@ int qemu_open_old(const char *name, int flags, ...)
     }
 #endif
 
-    if (flags & O_CREAT) {
-        va_list ap;
-
-        va_start(ap, flags);
-        mode = va_arg(ap, int);
-        va_end(ap);
-    }
-
     ret = qemu_open_cloexec(name, flags, mode);
 
+    return ret;
+}
+
+
+int qemu_open_old(const char *name, int flags, ...)
+{
+    va_list ap;
+    mode_t mode = 0;
+    int ret;
+
+    va_start(ap, flags);
+    if (flags & O_CREAT) {
+        mode = va_arg(ap, int);
+    }
+    va_end(ap);
+
+    ret = qemu_open_internal(name, flags, mode);
+
 #ifdef O_DIRECT
     if (ret == -1 && errno == EINVAL && (flags & O_DIRECT)) {
         error_report("file system may not support O_DIRECT");