diff --git a/bfd/hosts/rs6000.h b/bfd/hosts/rs6000.h
index 4fb70e8f543..7cf72b10379 100644
--- a/bfd/hosts/rs6000.h
+++ b/bfd/hosts/rs6000.h
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@
 #include <sys/file.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>		/* for malloc() */
 
+/* fdopen() won't let you open read-only files for update */
+#define	FASCIST_FDOPEN
+
 #ifndef O_ACCMODE
 #define O_ACCMODE (O_RDONLY | O_WRONLY | O_RDWR)
 #endif