diff --git a/drivers/vfio/vfio.c b/drivers/vfio/vfio.c
index 75c16cc5921a..1eab4ace0671 100644
--- a/drivers/vfio/vfio.c
+++ b/drivers/vfio/vfio.c
@@ -1109,7 +1109,7 @@ static int vfio_group_get_device_fd(struct vfio_group *group, char *buf)
 		 * We can't use anon_inode_getfd() because we need to modify
 		 * the f_mode flags directly to allow more than just ioctls
 		 */
-		ret = get_unused_fd_flags(0);
+		ret = get_unused_fd_flags(O_CLOEXEC);
 		if (ret < 0) {
 			device->ops->release(device->device_data);
 			break;