diff --git a/mdopen.c b/mdopen.c
index 21baf5d..0a17421 100644
--- a/mdopen.c
+++ b/mdopen.c
@@ -390,6 +390,8 @@ int create_mddev(char *dev, char *name, int autof, int trustworthy,
 int open_mddev(char *dev, int report_errors)
 {
 	int mdfd = open(dev, O_RDWR);
+	if (mdfd < 0 && errno == EACCES)
+		mdfd = open(dev, O_RDONLY);
 	if (mdfd < 0) {
 		if (report_errors)
 			fprintf(stderr, Name ": error opening %s: %s\n",