diff --git a/src/bin/pg_validatebackup/t/003_corruption.pl b/src/bin/pg_validatebackup/t/003_corruption.pl
index 416bc9194f0..7a09d02e6c7 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_validatebackup/t/003_corruption.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pg_validatebackup/t/003_corruption.pl
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ my @scenario = (
 	{
 		'name' => 'open_directory_fails',
 		'mutilate' => \&mutilate_open_directory_fails,
+		'cleanup' => \&cleanup_open_directory_fails,
 		'fails_like' => qr/could not open directory/,
 		'skip_on_windows' => 1
 	},
@@ -245,6 +246,15 @@ sub mutilate_open_directory_fails
 	return;
 }
 
+# restore permissions on the unreadable directory we created.
+sub cleanup_open_directory_fails
+{
+	my ($backup_path) = @_;
+	my $pathname = "$backup_path/pg_subtrans";
+	chmod(0700, $pathname) || die "chmod $pathname: $!";
+	return;
+}
+
 # Create a directory that can't be searched. (This is skipped on Windows.)
 sub mutilate_search_directory_fails
 {