diff --git a/cmd.go b/cmd.go
index e33aa966..2e0003dc 100644
--- a/cmd.go
+++ b/cmd.go
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ func initYay() (err error) {
 	////////////////
 	updated = false
 
-	vfile, err := os.Open(vcsFile)
+	vfile, err := os.OpenFile(vcsFile, os.O_RDONLY|os.O_CREATE, 0644)
 	if err == nil {
 		defer vfile.Close()
 		decoder := json.NewDecoder(vfile)