diff --git a/kernel/gen_kheaders.sh b/kernel/gen_kheaders.sh
index 6d443ea22bb7..8b6e0c2bc0df 100755
--- a/kernel/gen_kheaders.sh
+++ b/kernel/gen_kheaders.sh
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ find $cpio_dir -type f -print0 |
 
 # Create archive and try to normalize metadata for reproducibility.
 tar "${KBUILD_BUILD_TIMESTAMP:+--mtime=$KBUILD_BUILD_TIMESTAMP}" \
-    --owner=0 --group=0 --sort=name --numeric-owner \
+    --owner=0 --group=0 --sort=name --numeric-owner --mode=u=rw,go=r,a+X \
     -I $XZ -cf $tarfile -C $cpio_dir/ . > /dev/null
 
 echo $headers_md5 > kernel/kheaders.md5