diff --git a/iconv/iconv_prog.c b/iconv/iconv_prog.c
index 7dba5d8dff..558cfb11a3 100644
--- a/iconv/iconv_prog.c
+++ b/iconv/iconv_prog.c
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ input_error (const char *path)
 static void
 open_output_direct (void)
 {
-  output_fd = open64 (output_file, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC, 0777);
+  output_fd = open64 (output_file, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC, 0666);
   if (output_fd < 0)
     output_error ();
 }
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ prepare_output_file (char **argv)
   else
     {
       /* If iconv creates the output file, no overlap is possible.  */
-      output_fd = open64 (output_file, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, 0777);
+      output_fd = open64 (output_file, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, 0666);
       if (output_fd >= 0)
 	output_buffer_size = copy_buffer_size;
       else
diff --git a/iconv/tst-iconv_prog-buffer.sh b/iconv/tst-iconv_prog-buffer.sh
index 1c499d590d..40340c38fa 100644
--- a/iconv/tst-iconv_prog-buffer.sh
+++ b/iconv/tst-iconv_prog-buffer.sh
@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@ run_iconv () {
 }
 
 check_out_expected () {
+    if test -x "$tmp/out" ; then
+	echo "error: iconv output file is executable"
+	failure=true
+    fi
     if ! cmp -s "$tmp/out" "$tmp/expected" ; then
         echo "error: iconv output difference" >&$logfd
         echo "*** expected ***" >&$logfd