diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/fence_gk20a.c b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/fence_gk20a.c
index 87b0bee14..f41ca767a 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/fence_gk20a.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/fence_gk20a.c
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ int gk20a_fence_install_fd(struct gk20a_fence *f)
 	if (!f->sync_fence)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
-	fd = get_unused_fd();
+	fd = get_unused_fd_flags(O_RDWR);
 	if (fd < 0)
 		return fd;