diff --git a/fs/namei.c b/fs/namei.c
index 4767c0588b6e..90210b46b461 100644
--- a/fs/namei.c
+++ b/fs/namei.c
@@ -2384,7 +2384,7 @@ static struct file *do_last(struct nameidata *nd, struct path *path,
 	if (error)
 		return ERR_PTR(error);
 	error = -EISDIR;
-	if (S_ISDIR(nd->inode->i_mode))
+	if ((open_flag & O_CREAT) && S_ISDIR(nd->inode->i_mode))
 		goto exit;
 	error = -ENOTDIR;
 	if ((nd->flags & LOOKUP_DIRECTORY) && !nd->inode->i_op->lookup)