diff --git a/src/nm-core-utils.c b/src/nm-core-utils.c
index 54ccdb836d..80db196cec 100644
--- a/src/nm-core-utils.c
+++ b/src/nm-core-utils.c
@@ -2838,7 +2838,7 @@ _secret_key_read (guint8 **out_secret_key,
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	if (!nm_utils_file_set_contents (NMSTATEDIR "/secret_key", (char *) secret_key, key_len, 0077, &error)) {
+	if (!nm_utils_file_set_contents (NMSTATEDIR "/secret_key", (char *) secret_key, key_len, 0600, &error)) {
 		nm_log_warn (LOGD_CORE, "secret-key: failure to persist secret key in \"%s\" (%s) (use non-persistent key)",
 		             NMSTATEDIR "/secret_key", error->message);
 		success = FALSE;