diff --git a/sound/soc/sof/debug.c b/sound/soc/sof/debug.c
index 55f1d808dba0..219c3becf670 100644
--- a/sound/soc/sof/debug.c
+++ b/sound/soc/sof/debug.c
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(snd_sof_debugfs_io_item);
 /* create FS entry for debug files to expose kernel memory */
 int snd_sof_debugfs_buf_item(struct snd_sof_dev *sdev,
 			     void *base, size_t size,
-			     const char *name)
+			     const char *name, mode_t mode)
 {
 	struct snd_sof_dfsentry *dfse;
 
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ int snd_sof_debugfs_buf_item(struct snd_sof_dev *sdev,
 	dfse->size = size;
 	dfse->sdev = sdev;
 
-	dfse->dfsentry = debugfs_create_file(name, 0444, sdev->debugfs_root,
+	dfse->dfsentry = debugfs_create_file(name, mode, sdev->debugfs_root,
 					     dfse, &sof_dfs_fops);
 	if (!dfse->dfsentry) {
 		/* can't rely on debugfs, only log error and keep going */
diff --git a/sound/soc/sof/loader.c b/sound/soc/sof/loader.c
index 16b016b76fd8..952a19091c58 100644
--- a/sound/soc/sof/loader.c
+++ b/sound/soc/sof/loader.c
@@ -335,11 +335,11 @@ int snd_sof_run_firmware(struct snd_sof_dev *sdev)
 	init_waitqueue_head(&sdev->boot_wait);
 	sdev->boot_complete = false;
 
-	/* create fw_version debugfs to store boot version info */
+	/* create read-only fw_version debugfs to store boot version info */
 	if (sdev->first_boot) {
 		ret = snd_sof_debugfs_buf_item(sdev, &sdev->fw_version,
 					       sizeof(sdev->fw_version),
-					       "fw_version");
+					       "fw_version", 0444);
 		/* errors are only due to memory allocation, not debugfs */
 		if (ret < 0) {
 			dev_err(sdev->dev, "error: snd_sof_debugfs_buf_item failed\n");
diff --git a/sound/soc/sof/sof-priv.h b/sound/soc/sof/sof-priv.h
index 01a6219c326b..ce22240cd93a 100644
--- a/sound/soc/sof/sof-priv.h
+++ b/sound/soc/sof/sof-priv.h
@@ -546,7 +546,7 @@ int snd_sof_debugfs_io_item(struct snd_sof_dev *sdev,
 			    enum sof_debugfs_access_type access_type);
 int snd_sof_debugfs_buf_item(struct snd_sof_dev *sdev,
 			     void *base, size_t size,
-			     const char *name);
+			     const char *name, mode_t mode);
 int snd_sof_trace_update_pos(struct snd_sof_dev *sdev,
 			     struct sof_ipc_dma_trace_posn *posn);
 void snd_sof_trace_notify_for_error(struct snd_sof_dev *sdev);