diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/inode.c b/fs/overlayfs/inode.c
index f7caf16f9bec..76cfe9d04e64 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/inode.c
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ int ovl_permission(struct inode *inode, int mask)
 		return err;
 
 	old_cred = ovl_override_creds(inode->i_sb);
-	if (!is_upper)
+	if (!is_upper && !special_file(realinode->i_mode))
 		mask &= ~(MAY_WRITE | MAY_APPEND);
 	err = inode_permission(realinode, mask);
 	revert_creds(old_cred);