diff --git a/lockfile.c b/lockfile.c
index 23847fc9f2..a8f32e5495 100644
--- a/lockfile.c
+++ b/lockfile.c
@@ -197,19 +197,18 @@ static int lock_file(struct lock_file *lk, const char *path, int flags)
 		resolve_symlink(lk->filename, max_path_len);
 	strcat(lk->filename, LOCK_SUFFIX);
 	lk->fd = open(lk->filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, 0666);
-	if (0 <= lk->fd) {
-		lk->owner = getpid();
-		if (adjust_shared_perm(lk->filename)) {
-			int save_errno = errno;
-			error("cannot fix permission bits on %s",
-			      lk->filename);
-			rollback_lock_file(lk);
-			errno = save_errno;
-			return -1;
-		}
-	}
-	else
+	if (lk->fd < 0) {
 		lk->filename[0] = 0;
+		return -1;
+	}
+	lk->owner = getpid();
+	if (adjust_shared_perm(lk->filename)) {
+		int save_errno = errno;
+		error("cannot fix permission bits on %s", lk->filename);
+		rollback_lock_file(lk);
+		errno = save_errno;
+		return -1;
+	}
 	return lk->fd;
 }